Fresh tribal clashes in South and Central Darfur

Clashes broke out once again on Tuesday between Salamat and Al Taaysha tribesmen in the Rahad El Berdi locality of South Darfur. The fighting, in the areas of Siih El Murr and El Delayib, breaks Monday’s “uneasy calm” in this lingering spill-over conflict. The Sunday clashes in the north of the locality claimed 36 lives and left dozens injured on both sides. The warring parties signed a peace treaty on 15 April in South Darfur, however, a few days later, it is alleged that 500 Salamat families were deported from Rahad El Berdi city to Nyala in a move jointly coordinated by state and local authorities.Violence also flared up again in the Mukjar locality of Central Darfur on Tuesday. Salamat and Misseriya tribesmen exchanged fire at 12:30pm in the region of Ganaia, east of Marlenga and west of Mukjar. Witnesses told Radio Dabanga that more clashes broke out in the area of Kore, 40km south of Mukjar in the area of Wustani.The violence in Mukjar locality broke out after the arrival of 25 “military” vehicles belonging to Misseriya and Abbala “militias”, witnesses said. They had spent the night in Turu on Monday and headed south the next morning. Sources noted that local authorities had deployed the police force of Danbar administrative unit to Mukjar city on Monday night. Danbar is a town located on the border between the localities of Mukjar and Rahad El Berdi.As the violence is on-going, no reliable casualty figures are yet available for South or Central Darfur.Before spreading north and to South Darfur, tribal tensions began to rise on 3 April in Umm Dukhun, Central Darfur, when a Misseriya tribesman allegedly tried looting and opening fire on a Salamat man, who was not hurt. Hostilities erupted the next day when 4,000 men of both sides began battling each other.Sources indicated that the Al Taaysha tribe is supporting the Misseriya against the Salamat in South Darfur. Reports state that many of the attacks against the Salamat have been led by Ali Kushayb, an Al Taaysha tribesman and suspected war criminal indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC). He is the commander of the Central Reserve Forces (known as Abu Tira) in Rahad El Berdi.UNHCR said that as result of the battles in South and Central Darfur 50,000 people sought refuge in Chad within a short period of time, terming it the “largest influx of refugees from Sudan into Chad since 2005”.File photo by Albert Gonzalez Farran/ UNAMIDRelated: Renewed tribal clashes in South Darfur leave 36 dead (6 May 2013)