Soldiers in Abyei. (File photo/courtesy).

The deployment of government troops to a demilitarized zone in Abyei Administrative Area is due to a small number of UNISFA forces in the area, according to spokesperson Bolis Kouc.

Bolis Kouc is reacting to the call by the Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations on South Sudan’s government to withdraw its troops from the demilitarized area of Abyei.

Jean-Pierre Lacroix warned their presence could further fuel tensions in the area.

He was cited on Tuesday by AFP as saying  “We are deeply concerned about the presence of South Sudanese security forces in southern Abyei since October 2022,” adding that “additional military deployments took place in March and April of this year.

Jean-Pierre Lacroix told the security council that Several thousand UN peacekeeping forces are deployed in the region and their work is being hindered by South Sudanese forces.

In response, Abyei Information Minister Kouc said the SSPDF soldiers were deployed in the area to defuse tension between the communities of Ngok and Twic.

” The army came and centered in the area of Agok.  Agok is a vital area and it’s an area that faced a conflict between the two communities of Twic and Ngok.

“When the army entered the Agok area by the permission from the government and it was during the time of the former administrator Kuol Dem,” he said

He said the soldiers are out of the Abyei box, and are only concentrated in the Agok area to monitor the situation in the area

“They will be deployed in the bordering area between Twic and Ngok, and this bordering area between Twic and Ngo.”

Besides, he said the Ghanaian peacekeeping forces of UNISFA in the Southern Kiir river are small in number.

“The argument and the issue are that the peacekeeping forces of UNISFA which is from Ghana in the Southern of Kiir river is small in the number,” he added.