Local officials said at least three people have been killed and five others wounded after their convoy was ambushed by the South Sudanese army.
Nyinkwany Aguer Bol, the acting Minister of Information in the Abyei Special Administrative Area, described the attack, which took place in Agok on Sunday, as “an attempted assassination” targeting key officials in the Abyei government.
The Minister of Local Government and Law Enforcement Agencies, and Commissioner of Rum-Amer County were in the convoy.
The South Sudanese army did not respond to the BBC’s request for comment.
Mr Aguer condemned the incident and said the presence of South Sudanese soldiers in schools in Agok and Sunday’s attack were clear indications of the South Sudan army’s plan to discourage the existence of the Abyei Administration.
South Sudan and Sudan jointly administer Abyei, and both claim ownership of the region in a dispute that has remained unresolved since the South’s independence in 2011.
Mr Aguer urged the South Sudan army leadership in the capital Juba to urgently redeploy its troops who are stationed along the border of Abyei and Twic County of Warrap State.
In February, two armed youth groups from Warrap State in South Sudan raided Abyei, killing at least 50 people, including two UN peacekeepers.
