OVER 150 KILLED IN TRIBAL VIOLENCE IN SUDAN’S BLUE NILE REGION

Fri 21 October 2022:

The most recent ethnic clashes over land disputes took place in Sudan’s southern Blue Nile state, where fighting lasted for two days and resulted in at least 150 deaths.

Crowds protested in the streets of the state capital of Blue Nile, Damazin, on Thursday, chanting slogans decrying a conflict that has claimed hundreds of lives so far this year. The bloodshed is the worst in recent months.

As a result of reported disputes over land between Hausa people and rival groups, fighting broke out in Blue Nile last week. According to locals, hundreds of people fled the area under heavy gunfire, and homes were set on fire.

The Wad al-Mahi region, located 500 kilometers (310 miles) south of the capital Khartoum, has been the focal point of the fighting.

On Thursday, hundreds marched through Damazin, some calling for the state governor to be sacked. “No, no to violence,” the demonstrators chanted.

“A total 150 people including women, children and elderly were killed between Wednesday and Thursday,” said Abbas Moussa, head of Wad al-Mahi hospital. “Around 86 people were also wounded in the violence.”

By early October, 149 people had died as a result of tribal conflicts that started in July. 13 more people were killed in fresh fighting last week, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

OCHA had no confirmation of the latest surge in casualties but said the violence has displaced at least 1,200 people since last week.

OCHA also said tribal clashes in nearby West Kordofan province, which broke out last week, killed 19 people and wounded dozens. A gunfight there between the Misseriya and Nuba ethnic groups erupted amid a land dispute near the town of Al Lagowa.

The Sudanese army accused the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North, a rebel organization active in South Kordofan and the Blue Nile, with being responsible for the attack on Al Lagowa on Wednesday.

Sudan has been plugged into turmoil since a coup last October that upended the country’s brief democratic transition after three decades of rule by Omar al-Bashir. He was toppled in an April 2019 popular uprising, paving the way for a civilian-military power-sharing government.

Many analysts believe that the power vacuum in the area brought on by the military coup last October is what is causing the rise in violence. Additionally, the violence has put Sudan’s already fragile economy in danger, which is made worse by fuel shortages brought on in part by the conflict in Ukraine.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

FOLLOW INDEPENDENT PRESS:

TWITTER (CLICK HERE)
https://twitter.com/IpIndependent