Sudan: Tribal strife flares in West Kordofan, El Gezira

Three days ago, clashes between Nuba and Misseriya tribesmen erupted in Lagawa in West Kordofan. A number of people have been killed and injured. On Sunday, a conflict between Nuba and El Hallawiyin communities in El Gezira caused the injury of 10 people.

Witnesses told Radio Dabanga from Lagawa that the clashes started on Saturday when a group of Misseriya tribesmen attacked the Nuba village of El Fagara, claiming that the villagers stole their cattle. Later, the Misseriya attacked El Dabkaya and El Tarin as well.

Prof Mohamed Tahir told Dabanga Radio from Lagawa that the violence continued until Monday without any intervention by the security forces. He described the situation as dangerous, and urged the authorities in Khartoum and native administration leaders to intervene and stop the violence.

El Gezira

In El Muhereiba in El Gezira, 10 people were injured in clashes between Nuba and El Hallawiyin tribesmen on Sunday.

Ismail Mousa, head of the Reconciliation Committee between the two warring parties, told Radio Dabanga that the causes of the conflict between the two parties are old. Fighting broke out several times.

He explained that a reconciliation committee was formed to resolve the issue, but it could not address the feuds between the parties. A month ago, the committee held a meeting to diffuse the tension in the presence of Siddig Tawir, member of the Sovereign Council.

On Sunday evening, the conflict erupted and continued until the early morning.

Mousa attributed the cause of conflict to a confrontation between two people from the two communities in the town market that escalated into a violent incident. A man from El Hallawiyin shot a group of Nuba people with a hunting rifle and wounded 10. “The injured were transferred to the El Muhereiba Hospital,” he said.

The clashes led to the destruction of commercial stores that estimated to be about SDG 300 million*. “The situation has been stabilised after the law reinforcements arrived in the town,” he concluded.

* USD 1 = SDG 55.1375 at time of publishing. As effective foreign exchange rates can vary in Sudan, Radio Dabanga bases all SDG currency conversions on the daily US Dollar rate quoted by the Central Bank of Sudan (CBoS).

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