31 dead in Sudan tribal clashes near Ethiopia border

• Fighting between Hawsa and Berti tribes erupts.
• At least 31 dead, 39 injured, 16 stores set on fire.
• Governor of Blue Nile bans protests and marches for a month.

At least 31 people have died in ongoing skirmishes between two tribes in Sudan Blue Nile State, according to local officials, while dozens of families were fleeing the carnage on Saturday.

Since the violence erupted on Monday due to a land dispute between the Berti and Hawsa tribes, at least 39 additional people have been injured and 16 stores have been set on fire.

Adel Agar, a local representative from the city of Al-Roseires, told AFP on Saturday, “We need more troops to control the situation.

Additionally, he urged mediators to defuse the tensions that had left numerous people “dead and maimed.” He didn’t provide a specific toll.

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Ahmed al-Omda, the governor of the Blue Nile, issued an order on Friday banning any protests and marches for a month. On Saturday, a night curfew was implemented along with the deployment of soldiers.

After a brief break, fighting broke out again near the state capital Al-Damazin on Saturday, according to witnesses.

Fatima Hamad, a local in the city of Al-Roseires, which is located across the river from Al-Damazin, told AFP that she and her neighbours “heard gunshots” and “saw smoke rising” from the south.

Ahmed Youssef, a resident of Al-Damazin, claimed that “dozens of families” entered the city from the bridge to escape the disturbance.

According to medical authorities, hospitals have made an urgent need for blood donations in order to treat casualties of the turmoil.

Al-Roseires Hospital’s medical source informed AFP that the facility had “ran out of first aid supplies.”

According to the source, “additional personnel” are required because the number of injured people is “increasing.”

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The Berti tribe turned down a Hawsa proposal to establish a “civil authority to regulate access to land,” a prominent Hawsa member told AFP on the condition of anonymity. This led to the outbreak of violence.

However, a senior Bertis claimed that the tribe was retaliating for the Hawsas’ “violation” of its lands.

Unrest has long plagued the Blue Nile state and the Qissan region. Southern insurgents were a thorn in the side of former strongman president Omar al-Bashir of Sudan, who was overthrown by the army in 2019 after public pressure.

Experts claim that in a nation where fatal battles frequently break out over land, livestock, access to water, and grazing, last year’s coup led by army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan created a security vacuum that has fostered a revival in tribal violence.