S. Sudan, Sudan disagree on terms of joint force in Abyei

JUBA – The governments of Sudan and South Sudan have disagreed on how to deploy a joint force for the disputed region of Abyei, a South Sudan defense ministry official said.

This comes a week after an attack on Kolon village in the disputed region by Arab militia men killed over 30 people and left 24 people wounded.

15 children were also abducted by the Arab raiders also.

The government in Juba announced that it was forming a joint Sudanese-South Sudanese committee to investigate the incident but later on said it prefer an independent joint UN-AU investigation.

President Salva Kiir had also discussed the deployment of joint forces in the area after residents complained that the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) failed to protect them during the attack.

However, this afternoon, a senior South Sudan defense ministry said the two countries deferred on the terms of the joint force deployment saying Sudan was willing to include civilian officials in a security patrol force they said would be deployed in Abyei.

“We have disagreed. The Sudanese government want civilians only to be added to their force,” the unnamed official said was quoted by the independent Nyamilepedia.

He however said efforts were under way to convince the Sudanese government because there was “a need for deployment of joint force in the area and get out the UNISFA.”