Casualties rise to 112 in South Darfur tribal dispute

The list of casualties in ongoing clashes stemming from the Beni Halba and Gimr tribes’ dispute has reached 112, a source says. Clashes are ongoing for one week in different parts of South Darfur’s Katayla locality. Ibrahim Al Rahed, a member of the committee of reconciliation, said on Wednesday that 32 Beni Halba had died and 50 were wounded. Abdul Rahman Hamad Nahla, Member of Parliament from Katayla, said the death toll in the Gimr tribe has reached 30 while assessment of the wounded is still ongoing. In a statement, Gimr leaders said the villages of Jugma, Batikha, Haraza, Eidera, Juekhena, and Umm Dorota had been burned, and that hundreds of families have been displaced to Katayla city. They called upon the government of South Darfur to enforce security to prevent “violence from escalating”. Earlier this year, dispute over land ownership between the Beni Halba and Gimr tribes left eight killed (four from each side) and four wounded in South Darfur. Six villages were also were burned as a result of the battles in the area of Edd Al Fursan, that displaced some 750 families.Clashes between both tribes resumed after a relatively stable period since February as both sides accuse of each other of breaching a previously signed peace treaty.File photoRelated: Darfur village ‘almost entirely burned’ by Beni Halba (1 May 2013)