A Ghanaian soldier on peacekeeping mission in the Abyei Administrative Area, has lost his life following a series of attacks.
The unnamed peacekeeper died ongside a Pakistan soldier and a number of civilians, in the attacks suspected to have been carried out by rebels on January 28, 2024.
The two peacekeepers were part of the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) operating in the area that lies on the border between South Sudan and Sudan which has been accorded a special administrative status by the UN.
Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, Stéphane Dujarric, in a statement said: “The Secretary-General condemns the violence and attacks against UNISFA and calls on the Governments of South Sudan and Sudan to swiftly investigate the attacks, with the assistance of UNISFA, and bring the perpetrators to justice.
“The Secretary-General reminds all parties that attacks on United Nations peacekeepers may constitute war crimes,” the statement added.
The Abyei Area is an area of 10,546 km2 or 4,072 sq miles on the border between South Sudan and Sudan.
It has been accorded “special administrative status” by the 2004 Protocol on the Resolution of the Abyei Conflict (Abyei Protocol) in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) that ended the Second Sudanese Civil War.
Under the terms of the Abyei Protocol, the Abyei Area is considered, on an interim basis, to be simultaneously part of both the Republic of South Sudan and Republic of Sudan, effectively a condominium.
