Following 10 days of unrest in Sudan's north - south border town of Abyei, an agreement has been reached to set up a demilitarised zone to be jointly patrolled. Details of the agreement are still unclear.
Growing tensions in the oil-rich region escalated after northern troops seized control on 21st May.
Following the 2005 peace agreement, the status of Abyei was left undecided and a separate referendum for the region, due last January, on whether the area should be part of the north or south has been postponed indefinitely.
During the unrest, widespread looting and burning in the town was reported.
Aid workers report that as many as 60,000 people fled Abyei- mostly southerners from the Dinka tribe, heading further south.
According to the BBC, shots were fired at four UN helicopters last Wednesday but none had been hit.
News agency Reuters reports, ‘South Sudan's President Salva Kiir on Thursday called on north Sudan to withdraw its forces from the disputed Abyei region but said there would be no war over the conflict.’
"We will not go back to war, it will not happen," Kiir told reporters in Juba, the capital of south Sudan.’
Last week, MAF planes evacuated Cush4Christ staff from the nearby area due to the rising and continuing insecurity.
We also flew aid workers to nearby Torelai from where they are assisting the displaced people.
Pockets of insecurity due to tribal conflict continue in other parts of the country. The peace deal in 2005 ended 22 years of civil war in which some 1.5 million people died. In January South Sudan voted to become independent. Independence Day is set for 9 July.
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praying for peace and stability to return to Abyei and other parts of Sudan.