Armed militants kill 6 in disputed region bordering Sudan, South Sudan

Six people including a senior local administrator were killed in an ambush by armed men in the Abyei region claimed by both Sudan and South Sudan, Reuters reported today.

The oil-rich region experiences frequent bouts of violence, where rival factions of the Dinka ethnic group – Twic Dinka from South Sudan’s neighbouring Warrap State, and Ngok Dinka from Abyei – are locked in a dispute over the location of an administrative boundary.

Abyei has been claimed by both countries since Juba declared independence from Khartoum in 2011. The incident is the latest in a region where dozens were killed in ethnic clashes in November.