South Darfur forces stop tribal clash

Fighting that erupted between Fellata and Salamat tribesmen in Buram locality on Thursday evening came to an end today when government forces arrived to the scene. According to a tribal leader, calm is restored to the area of Amoud El Aradeib.

The undersecretary of the Salamat Shura (consultation) Council, Musa El Bashir, told Radio Dabanga that Fellata tribesmen attacked Salamat members in the market of Amoud El Aradeb, located 90km from the state capital Nyala, on Thursday. He reported that 20 Salamat were killed and 17 were wounded. About 100 of the attacking Fellata tribesmen were either killed or wounded, he claimed.

As for the reason of the assault, El Bashir pointed to three weeks ago, when 50 head of livestock were stolen from Salamat members. “The state of South Darfur pledged to arrest the perpetrators. Instead, we were surprised by Thursday's atack by Fellata on Salamat inside the market.”

When forces deployed by the state government entered Amoud El Aradeib on Friday, the fighting stopped. The forces transferred a large number of corpses to Tullus locality, El Bashir said.

'State responsible'

The Salamat leader called on the South Darfur government and the tribal administrations to take responsibility for what has happened in Buram. Also the locality administrations of Dimso, Tullus, Buram and Rahad El Berdi “are part of the tribal conflicts”.

El Bashir said that 450 cases of cattle theft have been reported to the police in the area within the last two years. “But none of the perpetrators have been arrested.”

The most recent conflict between the Fellata and Salamat tribes took place at the end of March in Dimsu and El Ferdous localities, adjacent to Buram. More than 67 people from both sides were killed, in addition to many more wounded. The state authorities then also sent military buffer forces to prevent more clashes.