The former senior aide to Vice President Taban Deng Gai has called for the unconditional release of officials detained over communal clashes in Aneet area disputed between Twic of Warrap and Dinka Ngok of Abyei Administrative Area.
Agel Machar claimed that the detention in April of 16 people including government officials, military leaders on charges of inciting violence has not ended the violence between the two communities.
“Their long arbitrary detention, evidently has neither led to the resolution of the conflict or dispute nor has it led to a reduction in the intensity of the bloody conflict as we hoped and expected,” Machar said in a Facebook post on Monday.
Machar said that the leadership vacuum has created chaos in both Twic and Abyei areas.
“In fact, the opposite was witnessed, due to the obvious leadership vacuum that was created on both sides of the borders on the ground in the aftermath of their abrupt unexplained detention and extraction from their respective duty stations,” he added.
Machar also appealed to President Salva Kiir Mayardit to review the mandate of the Twic-Abyei inter-communal investigation committee headed by Vice President for Service Cluster Hussein Abdelbagi Akol.
“This will help in improving its capacity and effectiveness, not only in effectively containing the unfortunate fratricide between Twic and Abyei in the short- term, but ultimately end the conflict,” he said.
In February, fighting erupted at Aneet market in Abyei Administrative Area over land disputed by the two communities.
More than 50,000 people mostly women and children were displaced as a result of the violence.
On May 5th, leaders from the two communities reached an agreement to cease hostilities, but later on fighting erupted again with both sides trading blame.
