Khartoum : Dozens were killed and many injured when violent clashes erupted between the Rezeigat and Ma’alia tribes in Sudan’s East Darfur state, according to tribal leaders and eyewitnesses.
“Great numbers of armed members from the Rezeigat tribe attacked a number of Ma’alia areas in East Darfur state,” Xinhua reported on Monday, quoting Azraq Hassan, a leader from the Ma’alia tribe.
“Preliminary statistics indicate that 25 members of Ma’alia were killed,” he said, adding that there were dozens of injured people, making it difficult to determine the number of casualties as the battle was still raging on.”
“The assailants used RPG missiles and Katyusha rockets to attack our people. This is an organised genocide by one tribe against another,” he said.
“We will settle our accounts with the Rezeigat and they will fail in their attempt to forcibly displace us from our land.”
Eyewitnesses from Al Dein, capital of East Darfur, said that shops and commercial stores in the city closed after clashes erupted in the locality of Abu Karinka, 50 km north-east of Al Dein.
East Darfur state governor Al-Tayeb Abdel-Karim reportedly held an emergency meeting with the state’s security committee to assess the consequences of the situation which portends disaster unless authorities manage to stop the fighting among the two tribes.
Earlier in the day, the governor said his state government sent substantial military reinforcement to secure the area to prevent an escalation of the situation.
Also on Monday, the UN expressed deep concerns over the clashes.
“I am very concerned by this outbreak of fighting,” said Geert Cappalaere, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan, in a statement.
“These towns are full of ordinary people, most of them women and children, who are just trying to live in peace. They should not have to carry the burden of renewed conflict,” he said.
The conflict between Rezeigat and the Ma’alia dates back to 1966 owning to land disputes. The conflict has later turned more violent after oil was found in the disputed areas.
The last clashes between the two tribes were in July 2014 that left over 600 people dead and about 900 injured on both sides, while more than 55,000 others were displaced due to the fighting.
Darfur region lies on the far west region of Sudan with a total area estimated at around 500,000 square km. It is considered to be Sudan’s western gate because the region shares joint borders with Libya, Chad and Central African Republic.
Tribes and clans still form the backbone of local economic, social and political institutions here.