Renewed clashes between Darfuri Arab tribes north of Nyala

More clashes took place Tuesday between the Abbala Rizeigat tribe and Sa’ada tribe in the northeast of Kass Locality in South Darfur. According to a source from Nyala, more than 20 Land Cruiser vehicles carrying armed Border Guards, alongside a number of gunmen on horses and camels, attacked El Ghubeisha village yesterday morning and clashed with a group of Sa’ada.
After the outbreak of the conflict, Governor Abdelhamid Musa Kasha reportedly summoned the Border Guard commander and former security adviser for the state of South Darfur, Mohamed Hamdan Dogolo (alias “Hemeti”). The governor was in Khartoum at the time. He had told Radio Dabanga in an interview on 19 May that he planned to form a committee to investigate the possible involvement of the Border Guards in the Sa’ada-Rizeigat conflict. Kasha did not rule out that they are involved. Hemeti, who is a member of the Mahariya section of the Rizeigat tribe, briefly rebelled from the government in 2007 before renewing his allegiance.

An omda (tribal leader) of the Sa’ada, Adam Mohammed Ismail, said that an earlier clash occurred on Monday because of the the theft of cattle belonging to the Sa’ada tribe. Six people were killed in that incident in the area of Um Al Qora – a village under Hemeti’s control northeast of Kass.

Bitter fighting between the two tribes erupted in late April. Sources estimated to Radio Dabanga that 100 people were killed and 11 villages burnt in those clashes. A related conflict between the Mahadi and Ta’alba tribes in Kass town left 14 people dead on 14 April. A peace committee formed by the government to address that conflict claims to have the situation under control.

Radio Dabanga has also learnt that several dozen families fleeing from villages affected by the conflict between the Sa’ada and Abbala have reached the capital of South Darfur, Nyala. About 32 families fled to the outskirts of Nyala while others went towards Kass.