Six Killed in Disputed Area on Sudan-South Sudan Border

Local officials said that six people, including a senior local official, were killed in an ambush by armed men in the disputed Abyei area between Sudan and South Sudan. The oil-rich region has experienced repeated waves of violence, with two rival factions from the Dinka ethnic group - the Twic Dinka from Warrap State in South Sudan and the Ngok Dinka from Abyei - clashing over the administrative border area. Government officials stated that the Administrative Deputy of the Abyei Area, Nune Deng, and his team were attacked on the road from Abyei to the town of Aniet while returning from an official visit to the Rumamer area, where they were celebrating the New Year. South Sudan's lawmaker, Teresa Choul, told Reuters, "His driver and two of his bodyguards and two national security personnel were all killed." This incident is the latest in a region where dozens were killed in ethnic clashes in November. The Abyei area lies within a poorly defined border zone between Sudan and South Sudan, with both countries claiming sovereignty over it since Juba declared independence from Khartoum in 2011. The area has a special administrative status, governed by an administration composed of officials appointed by both countries.