More than a dozen killed in attack in South Sudan border region

At least 19 people were killed and dozens wounded in an attack in the disputed Abyei region on the Sudan-South Sudan border, according to UNpeacekeepers, although a local official gave a higher toll.

Suspected nomadic Misseriya herders from Sudanattacked the Dinka village of Kolom, about nine kilometres (5.5 miles) northwest of Abyei on Wednesday, the United Nations Interim Security Force in Abyei (UNISFA), said in a statement.

UNISFA said the attack wounded at least 25 others, while three children were reportedly missing and 19 houses were set ablaze.

However, Kuol Alor Kuol, the chief administrator of the Abyei area, told AFP news agency that the number of dead stood at 32.

“Thirty-two people were killed among them children and women, and secondly about 24 people are wounded … and about 15 people including children were abducted and 20 houses burned,” Kuol said.

He said the wounded had been evacuated to a hospital in the town of Agok which is run by Doctors Without Borders (MSF).

Abyei has been contested since South Sudan gained independence in 2011, while there have long been tensions between the South Sudanese Ngok Dinka community and the Misseriya herders who traverse the area looking for grazing.