Soldiers assess a village in the town of Abyei following an attack by armed assailants. (-)

South Sudan’s People’s Defence Forces has denied allegations that its Division 3^rd Infantry under the command of Maj Gen Akuei Ajou carried out the recent fatal attacks on the Abyei Area.

The BBC cited Sultaan Bulabek, the leader of the nine chiefdoms in Abyei as saying soldiers carried out coordinated attacks in several villages alongside armed youth from the Twic county of Warrap state.

He claimed that the attack was meant to push the Ngok community out of their homes.

In response to the allegation, the SSPDF also refutes claims it troops were involved in the attack.

It also denied claims that the forces were operating within the Abyei Box in violation of the Agreement both Sudan and South Sudan committed to.

“We are not involved in the ongoing clashes at all. The accusations labeled against the SSPF and the commander of the SSPDF  3^rd Infantry Division are not substantive,” said Major General Lul Ruai Koang.

The response also comes after the embassies of Norway, the UK, and the US urged South Sudan to pull out its troops from Abyei to prevent further escalation of the violence.

The Western Country embassies cited a UNISFA report, which Eye Radio could not independently verify.

Gen. Lul went on to say, “The report that we engaged with UNISFA is not true. Our chief of defense forces was engaged with the Commander of UNISFA and there was a clear indication that our forces did not engage with UNISFA. We are not allowed to operate within Abyei Box. That is what the agreement said, and we are standing by it.

“The joint force was deployed outside of the Abyei box to act as a buffer zone between the rival groups and to ensure that the road connecting the two regions is not cut off by criminals and others, he added.