The conflict between two tribes in the eastern Sudanese state of Blue Nile, which borders Ethiopia, made 31 deadaccording to a new balance released today by local authorities.
According to a statement from the local security services, “39 people were injured and 16 stores were set on firefrom earlier in the week through Friday during gun battles, according to witnesses. What is at stake is a dispute over land.
After a period of calm, clashes near Al-Damazine resumed this Saturday morning, according to testimonies cited by Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Fatima Hamad, who lives on the outskirts of Al-Damazine, said she heard gunshots and saw plumes of smoke.
“Dozens of families, mainly women and children, (…) cross the bridge into the city to escape the fighting,” according to a resident of Al-Damazine, Ahmed Youssef.
On Friday night, following the troop deployment, Governor Ahmed al-Omda issued an order banning “any gathering or paradefor a month. An overnight curfew was also enacted from this day.
The first clashes between the Hausa and Barti tribes began on Monday in Qissan district, forcing nearby hospitals. ask for blood donation.
The Qissan region, and Blue Nile state more generally, is the scene of a rebellion that began in 1986.
Guerrillas have long been a source of trouble for the dictatorial regime of Omar al-Bashir, ousted by the army under popular pressure in 2019.
For experts, the security vacuum created by the military coup favored the resurgence of tribal violence in a country where hundreds of civilians die each year in clashes between shepherds and farmers for access to water or grazing areas.
Source: Observadora
