Measures taken in Sudan’s Kordofan and Kassala after tribal clashes

On Thursday, commanders of the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) agreed with the South Kordofan authorities and community leaders on the reconciliation between the two parties who fought each other in the capital of Kadugli earlier this week. A truce is expected to be signed on Saturday.

At least 26 people were killed in the clashes that swept the town on Tuesday and Wednesday. Initially it was reported that the violence had no tribal or ethnic background.

In a meeting on Thursday afternoon, the delegation of the SAF General Command, headed by Deputy Chief of Staff for Training Lt Gen Abdallah El Bashir, that arrived in Kadugli on Wednesday, agreed with the government of South Sudan and native administration leaders in the South Kordofan capital of Kadugli to mediate an agreement between the warring sides.  

The comprehensive curfew imposed on Wednesday will be lifted on Friday. The road between Delling and Kadugli will be re-opened.

The government also requested the people who fled their homes to return, Amir Mohamed Abuzeid, Spokesman for the Kadugli Native Administration Coordination stated after the meeting.

A reconciliation document will be signed by all community leaders and notables on Saturday under auspices of the South Kordofan government, he said.

'South Kordofan govt failed'

The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North faction under the leadership of Abdelaziz El Hilu (SPLM-N El Hilu) called on the warring tribesmen in Kadugli to listen to the voice of reason and resort to peaceful methods to solve the problems between them.

Ammar Daldoum, Secretary-General of the SPLM-N El Hilu said in a statement on Thursday that the fighting in Kadugli “came as a natural result of the spread of weapons among civilians, militarisation of the society, and the continued presence of militias” in the region.

“The escalation of violence in Kadugli in this way is caused by the failure of the state government to play its role in containing the situation, and resolving the conflicts by known peaceful means.”

Daldoum holds Sudan’s transitional government responsible for the recent violence. The fighting is “an indication of the state’s collusion with the aggressor group and its failure to legally settle the issue with which these disastrous consequences would have been avoided,” he said.

Apart from the tribal clashes, the locality of Kadugli witnessed two other violent incidents this week. On Wednesday, nine members of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Sudan’s main government militia, were killed in an attack by army soldiers near the town. On Thursday morning, a group of armed men wearing RSF uniforms killed at least five people in the South Kordofan capital.

Call for witnesses in Kassala

On Thursday, the head of Kassala’s legal department called all witnesses to the tribal clashes of last weekend to present themselves to the department in order to testify.

On Saturday, fighting erupted between people from Nuba tribes in South Kordofan who settled in Kassala and members of the eastern Sudanese Beni Amer tribe in Kassala town. Following reconciliation efforts by tribal leaders and the deployment of a government security force, calm returned on Monday.

Leaders of the Nuba and Beni Amer tribes in Kassala presented a proposal for mediation on Wednesday.

The death toll in the clashes reached 11 people, eight from the eastern Sudanese Beni Amer tribe, two men from the Nuba Mountains, and another person. About 70 Beni Amer tribesmen, and 30 Nuba sustained injuries. Most of them have recovered.

People who fled their homes are in a dire situation.

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