CAIRO –
Authorities say at least 31 people have been killed in tribal clashes that flared up again on Saturday in a southern Sudan province, the latest bloodshed in a country plunged into crisis. turmoil since October’s military coup.
Fighting between the Hausa and Birta ethnic groups in the Nile province broke out following the killing of a farmer earlier this week, according to a statement from local authorities this weekend.
Clashes continued on Saturday afternoon despite the deployment of additional troops in the area, according to the Sudan Doctors’ Commission, which monitors violence around the country.
The local government has deployed paramilitary and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces – or RSF – to bring stability to the region. Authorities also imposed a nightly curfew and banned gatherings in areas where the clashes took place.
Local authorities said clashes also left at least 39 people injured and about 16 shops in the town of Roseires damaged.
The medical group said more injured people were taken to hospitals on Saturday, amid shortages of emergency and life-saving drugs in the province. It has called on the authorities in the capital Khartoum to help evacuate the injured for advanced treatment.
The violence comes amid turmoil in Sudan since the army took over in October, removing a transitional government that has ruled the country since a popular uprising forced the overthrow of the longtime dictator. Omar al-Bashir in April 2019.
The coup has hampered the country’s transition to democracy and raised questions about the ability of military leaders to bring security to far-reaching areas of Sudan. In April, tribal clashes killed more than 200 people in war-torn Darfur.
