November 2023 Abyei Border Attacks

On November 19, 2023, an attack was carried out on several villages along the border between the Abyei Administrative Area and Twic County by Twic Dinka youth and, according to Abyei officials, soldiers from the 3rd Division of the South Sudan People's Defence Forces (SSPDF). The attacks left over forty-seven people dead and thirty-four others injured, according to a statement from the Abyei Civil Society.

The violence occurred in the context of a long-running border conflict between Dinka communities from Twic County, south of Abyei, and the Ngok Dinka of Abyei over land and cattle rights, ongoing since February 2022. A peace agreement reached in April 2023 failed to hold, and clashes resumed in September 2023, with Twic Dinka forces killing Ngok Dinka civilians in raids on border towns.

A precipitating event occurred on November 10, 2023, when Ngok Dinka fighters and Nuer mercenaries from Unity State attacked Twic Dinka and allied SSPDF forces at the SSPDF 3rd Division's base in the border town of Ayuok, killing thirty-four soldiers and their family members and injuring thirty-two others.

Following the Ayuok base attack, Abyei officials alleged that the head of the SSPDF 3rd Division, General Akuei Ajou, had aligned with Twic Dinka militia forces known as Titweng and a separate militia led by Gal Machiek. The November 19 attack began in the border area between Rummamer County and Alal County. Abyei officials initially reported twenty-seven people killed by SSPDF forces in the village of Mayot in Rummamer County, including the county's former commissioner. The Titweng and Gal Machiek militias then moved toward Maluel Aleu in Alal County, where forces from the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) intervened and repulsed the militias.

Abyei ministers stated that this was the first attack during the border conflict in which SSPDF forces had targeted Ngok Dinka civilians directly. The attacks prompted protests in Abyei, with civilians calling for SSPDF to withdraw from the disputed region. A statement issued during the protests by the Abyei Civil Society said the attacks killed more than forty-seven civilians and injured thirty-four others, and identified the villages of Ayuok, Athony, Malual Aleu, Ka-dhian, Nyiel, Angot Wuncuei, and Wunpeeth as targeted locations.

General Ajou, commander of the 3rd Division, denied that SSPDF was involved in the attacks. UNISFA separately denied claims made by Abyei officials regarding the death of a Ghanaian peacekeeper during the violence.