Abdelbagi urges UNISFA to protect civilians in Anet
The Vice President for Service Cluster, Hussein Abdelbagi Akol, met with the United Nations Interim Force for Abyei (UNISFA) to discuss ways of achieving stability in Anei town by protecting civilians.
Albdelbagi is the Chairman of the High-level Committee on the Conflict Between the Abyei Administrative Area’s Dinka Ngok and the Warrap State’s Dinka Twic.
“(We) have ended our discussion with the United Nations Interim Force for Abyei (UNISFA), centred on their peacekeeping mission and concerns over the violent communal conflict between Twic and Ngok Dinka. We exchanged views on how to tackle insecurity in Anet,” said the vice president on behalf of the committee.
On Tuesday, Abdelbagi said Abyei women in Anet had appreciated the reconciliation process between Twic and Ngok Dinka, and called for justice as the committee pledged that justice would be served.
“We have considered dialogue for reconciliation between two communities since the humanitarian situation of more than 100 thousand internally displaced persons continues to worsen,” he said.
“So, we thought of reconciling the two communities at the early stage to pave the way for their resuming their living together towards economic growth as we prepare the preliminary results of our investigation.”
Call for return
Last week, Abdelbagi called upon the victims of the conflict between Ngok and Twic Dinka to return to Anet so that they could reestablish their livelihoods as before.
“(We) have just concluded talking to commanders of the joint military forces at Rumkor joint military unit in Rumamer County. As a committee, (we) have called on the joint military commanders to orient their forces to keep law and order in their military operations in conflict situations, “he said.
He directed the military commanders in the area to order their forces to maintain law and order for the purpose of protecting the returnees.
“As the situation, normalises, (we) have called on the Anet residents seeking safety in the neighbouring villages on both sides of the conflict to return home and resume their economic activities in Anet, with a joint military deployment in and outside of Anet to address insecurity,” Abdelbagi said.
“(The) motive for this visit, is to assess the condition of the joint military operations and listen and talk to the commanders of the joint military deployment, in regard to their role of protection, in conflict situations,” he noted.
There had been a promising report from the two conflicting communities as they accepted dialogue so that the conflict would cease.
The committee was formed by President Salva Kiir on February 24, 2022, to dig out facts about clashes that broke out on February 10, 2022, and continued on February 11, and February 12, 2022.
