Official Says 27 Killed in Attack in Disputed Abyei Region

By DENG MACHOL

JUBA, South Sudan (AP) — A local official says at least 27 people were killed and four others wounded in an attack in the Abyei region that’s disputed between South Sudan and Sudan.

A spokesman for the government of the Abyei special administrative area, Ajak Deng Miyan, blamed local herders and fighters from Sudan for Sunday’s attack on ethnic Dinka.

The statement called on the U.N. peacekeeping force there to protect civilians.

Oil-rich Abyei has been contested since South Sudan gained independence in 2011.