CAIRO (HPD) — New tribal clashes in a southern Sudanese province left at least 13 dead and more than two dozen wounded last weekend, the latest violence in the chaotic nation in recent years. months, the United Nations said Monday.
The clashes between the Hausa and Birta ethnic groups began on Thursday over a territorial dispute in the Wad al-Mahi district of Blue Nile province, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). in English).
The fighting, which lasted for four days before calming down on Sunday, displaced at least 1,200 people who took refuge in school facilities there, OCHA said.
Government offices and the city market were closed, making it difficult for residents to meet their daily needs, the agency added. The authorities also imposed restrictions on the movement of the population in the area for fear of revenge attacks, according to OCHA.
The UN migration agency said the Jabalaween tribe, which sides with the British group, expelled their rivals, the Hausa, from the area, to which humanitarian agencies have no access.
The feud between the two tribes originally began in mid-July. As of October 6, 149 people have been killed and another 124 injured by the conflicts, according to OCHA.
The clashes in Blue Nile province sparked violent protests in other provinces where thousands of people, mostly Hausa, took to the streets to demonstrate in the face of the government’s lack of response to the violence.