At least 73 people were killed when drones struck a market in the disputed Abyei region along the border of South Sudan and Sudan, the caretaker information minister for the jointly administered region said on Tuesday, accusing Sudan’s army of carrying out the attack.
The Mnister did not provide evidence for his claim of who was responsible for Monday’s attack.
Abyei is an oil rich area that is jointly administered by South Sudan and Sudan, which have both staked claims to it.
It experiences frequent bouts of violence, with clashes usually involving rival ethnic groups or armed militias.
“Around 73 people have been killed and 19 have been wounded, a number of drones were shot yesterday by the Sudanese armed forces,” Yohana Akol Ngor, the Caretaker Minister of information of the Abyei region, told Reuters on Tuesday.
Last year, at least six Bangladeshi peacekeepers were killed and eight wounded in a drone attack by separatist armed groups on a UN base in Abyei, Bangladesh’s armed forces said.
South Sudan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement late Monday that drones struck a market located north of Abyei town, but did not specify the number of civilian casualties resulting from the attack.
–Reuters–
