Sudan army attacked in Abyei, claims ‘right to respond’

The Sudanese Armed Forces were attacked Thursday around 18.30 hours in Dokura, Abyei. The Northern military spokesman declared that it “maintains the right to respond.” The military retaliated by flying warplanes to Abyei and bombing six areas, the top official in the region told Radio Dabanga.

The incident could mark the beginning of a major crisis in North-South relations. It began Thursday as a Sudan Armed Forces unit was re-deploying in Abyei under UN escort. These Northern forces were part of the Joint Integrated Units and they were moving to take up a new post in northern Abyei.

This troop movement was authorized by security and military authorities from both sides, under the terms of the Kadugli Agreements. These agreements, a series of high-level security deals dating from January 2011, had aimed to prevent clashes by irregular forces in the volatile region. 

As Northern forces deployed on Thursday, they were attacked about 10 kilometers north of Abyei town, in an area controlled by the Southern Sudan Police Services, the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) stated today in an e-mail to reporters.

“At the time of the attack, the convoy was transporting 200 troops of the Joint Integrated Units of the Sudan Armed Forces to their designated post, as part of the deployment plan of the Kadugli Agreements, which had been agreed to by all parties,” UNMIS stated. The statement added that the attack constitutes a serious breach of the security agreements, as well as “a criminal attack against the UN.”

Northern military spokesman Al-Sawarmi Khaled Saad addressed the nation on the official Sudan TV, saying that the Sudan Armed Forces “will maintain the right to respond” to the aggression of last Thursday. He also blamed the Southern army for the attack.

According to a transcript of Sawarmi’s remarks posted on the Arabic website of Sudan TV, he said “Dear Sudanese people, this attack constitutes a blatant violation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement by the Sudan People’s Liberation Army against the Armed Forces and the United Nations, and for this reason the Armed Forces declares that it maintains the full right to respond to aggression in the right time and place.” Sawarmi concluded: “Glory and eternity to our faithful martyrs, Allahu Akbar and glory to Sudan.”

On Friday, the top official in the Abyei region, Chief Deng Arop Kuol, told Radio Dabanga that Abyei was attacked by Antonov and MiG warplanes. Kuol, who heads the Abyei Area Administration, is nominally responsible to President Al Bashir but in fact is a former SPLA commander loyal to the secessionist government in Juba.

Kuol named six areas that were attacked: Todach, Amiat Barda, Tajalei, Leu, Marial Achack, and Awol Nhom. The bridge in the area of Awol Nhom, which is about six kilometers south of Abyei town, was targeted but not hit by the bombs. “In all of these areas there are civilians,” Kuol said in an interview with Radio Dabanga.

Independently, eyewitnesses confirmed to Radio Dabanga that MiG warplanes were sighted over Abyei.

Abyei is inhabited primarily by members of the Dinka Ngok tribe. The region is also the seasonal home of Misseriya herdsmen. The region was supposed to have held a referendum concurrently with South Sudan’s independence vote of January 2011, but no preparations were made for the poll.