JUBA, Feb 5, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Nineteen people, one of them a humanitarian

worker, were killed in ethnic clashes over the weekend in the Abyei region
straddling the border between Sudan and South Sudan and claimed by both,
local authorities said.

Violence between the two countries is common in the oil-rich territory, with
54 people killed last week alone, including two UN peacekeepers.

Another 64 people were injured in fighting last week between two tribes of
the main ethnic Dinka -- the Abyei-based Ngok and their Twic rivals from the
neighbouring southern state of Warrap.

Both sides have sought to press their own claim since the South gained
independence in 2011, whereupon the area was placed under UN protection.

"The attacks on civilians culminated in the loss of life, setting the market
ablaze, property looting and raiding livestock," the Abyei Administrative
Authority (AAA)said.

The AAA said the fighting over the weekend "contravenes the presidential
order that calls for a peaceful settlement of the communal conflict between
Ngok Dinka and Twic of the Warrap State."

The Authority stated one person was killed and another three abducted on
Saturday.

It said that on Sunday 18 people, including "four women and three children,
as a well as a humanitarian aid worker from Doctors without Borders," were
killed in another attack by Twic youths and armed militiamen.

The conflict between the tribes began in 2022 over land claims in an area
located on the southern edge of Abyei and the state of Warrap.

In January, South Sudanese President Salva Kiir called for a ceasefire,
months after at least 32 people were killed in November clashes between the
two groups.