South Sudan authorities say the occupation of the contested Abyei area by the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) is illegal.
GoSS spokesperson and information minister Barnaba Marial Benjamin called upon the international community and the UN Security Council to see that SAF troops withdraw from the region immediately.
He said Abyei belongs to South Sudan and it is under the Presidency.
Dr. Marial said president Omar Hassan al-Bashir did not have the constitutional authority to dissolve the Abyei Administration Authority on his own.
The occupation of Abyei followed Thursday’s attack on a convoy of SAF soldiers being escorted by U.N. peacekeepers out of Abyei.
North and south armies accused each other of firing first.
Dr. Marial expressed regret over the attack on the UN convoy.
However, he questioned what kind of protection UNMIS provided to the fleeing civil population.
Dr. Marial said thousands of Abyei’s residents fled the town towards South Sudan after the occupation.
He called for humanitarian action to assist the displaced with food, medicines and shelter.
The escalation of violence in Abyei comes during the visit of an UN Security Council mission to the area and less than two months before South Sudan’s independence.
The action has raised fears that a new north-south war will break out.