East Darfur confirms nine dead in tribal fight
Nine confirmed dead, and four wounded, during Rizeigat-Ma’aliya fighting this week. Authorities deny gathering of militant tribesmen in the area currently.
The commissioner of Ed Daein in East Darfur has confirmed that the official numbers of casualties are at least nine people killed and four others wounded during the fighting between Rizeigat and Ma'aliya tribesmen on Wednesday in Dar Es Salam area.
The nine dead are members of the Rizeigat tribe. Commissioner Ali Taher Sharif reported to Radio Dabanga that he did not know the number of casualties among the Ma'aliya.
Members of the Central Reserve Forces reportedly joined in the fighting between a Rizeigat rescue team, set up to retrieve stolen cattle from one of their tribesmen, and gunmen from the Ma'aliya tribe in Dar Es Salam, in the southern part of Abu Karinka locality.
Sharif explained that a force from the army intervened and separated the fighters. The commissioner denied the presence of any gatherings of fighters in the area currently.
The state's director of local governance, Ahmed Mohamed El Dud, said that the clash was caused by cattle theft. He called for granting the security forces, used as 'buffer' against further escalation of the tense situation, the authority to use force to resolve the dispite between the warring parties.
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