Sudan: Clashes between Arab tribesmen and farmers kill at least 160 people in Darfur
Clashes between Arab tribesmen and ethnic minority farmers in Sudan's war-torn Darfur region resulted in the deaths of at least 160 people on Sunday, an aid group has said.
Adam Regal, spokesman for the General Coordination for Refugees and Displaced in Darfur, said the violence first erupted on Friday, when eight people were killed, and has continued since.
The fighting broke out around 80km from the West Darfur state capital of Geneina near the town of Krink, when armed Arab tribesmen attacked villages of the non-Arab Massalit minority in retaliation for the killing of two tribesmen, the aid organisation, said.
Dozens of homes were set on fire and large numbers of families displaced on Friday.
Rzeigat tribal leaders said the fighting was sparked by the killing of two Arab tribesmen on Thursday by gunmen who took refuge in Massalit villages.
The aid group accused the Janjaweed militia of orchestrating the attack on the Massalit villages, AFP reported.
The mainly Arab militia, many of whose members have now been integrated into Sudan's security forces, gained notoriety in the early 2000s for its role in the repression of an ethnic minority rebellion in Darfur.
Regal said Krink and neighbouring villages were suffering under a "tight economic blockade by the Janjaweed militias," in addition to recurrent "threats" and "looting".
Ethnic dimension
Scores of people have been killed and hundreds of houses torched in several bouts of violence in Darfur in recent months, the United Nations and medics say.
The conflict that erupted in 2003 between ethnic minority rebels and the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum saw 300,000 people killed and 2.5 million displaced, according to UN figures.
Although large-scale fighting has now abated across much of Darfur, the region remains awash with weapons and deadly clashes often erupt over access to pasture or water.
The clashes often take on an ethnic dimension as the region's Arab tribes are largely pastoralists while many of the region's settled farmers are drawn from minority groups.
A peace deal was signed in 2020, but since a military coup in October, Darfur has seen violence spike again, with hundreds killed in fighting between herders and farmers.
Middle East Eye delivers independent and unrivalled coverage and analysis of the Middle East, North Africa and beyond. To learn more about republishing this content and the associated fees, please fill out this form. More about MEE can be found here.
