ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani soldier was killed when a convoy of peacekeepers was ambushed in the Abyei region claimed by both Sudan and South Sudan, the Pakistan army said on Monday.

Abyei is an oil-rich area that is jointly administered by South Sudan and Sudan, which have both staked claims to it. 

Abyei’s information ministry said more than 50 people including women, children, and two UN peacekeepers were killed in attacks in the region that were the deadliest since 2021.

“On 28th January 2024, a convoy of Pakistani Peacekeepers was ambushed in Abyei ... while escorting two local patients to a hospital,” the army statement said. 

“Pakistani peacekeepers responded effectively and forced the militants to retreat. However, during exchange of fire, Sepoy Muhammad Tariq (resident of Badin, Sindh) embraced martyrdom while four individuals including two officers were injured.”

The killing brings to 181 the number of Pakistani peacekeepers killed in the line of duty around the world, the military said. 

“Pakistan remains committed to its role as a responsible member of the international community and will continue to contribute toward global peace and stability under the auspices of the United Nations,” the statement added.

The UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) said a Ghanaian peacekeeper from a United Nations force based in Abyei was killed when its base in the town of Agok was attacked amid the violence. A second peacekeeper, from Pakistan, was killed and four of his colleagues and a civilian were wounded while transporting civilians from a UNISFA base to a hospital, UNISFA said on Monday. It gave no further details.

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

Straddling an ill-defined border between Sudan and South Sudan, Abyei has been claimed by both countries since Juba declared independence from Khartoum in 2011. It has a special administrative status, governed by an administration comprising officials appointed by both countries.

South Sudan erupted into civil war shortly after independence, which pitted President Salva Kiir and his allies against his Vice President Riek Machar.

A peace agreement signed in 2018 is largely holding, but the transitional government has been slow to unify the various factions of the military.