At least 79 people, including women and children, have been killed in tribal clashes since last week in Sudan’s Blue Nile state, local health officials said on Tuesday. Around 199 people were injured during the intercommunal fighting between Hausa and Berta (Funj) tribes.
According to official sources, violence erupted between the two ethnic groups following a dispute over their respective agricultural land boundaries. The murder of a Hausa youth in the city of Roseiris on July 14 further escalated tensions. Since then, clashes have spread across the state.
A statement by the Hausa Higher Committee said the “bloody and sorrowful” events were an act of “genocide” and “blatant aggression” and called on all Hausa people to “exercise a high degree of self- restraint” and refrain from violence. “The committee urged all the local and regional organisations to provide humanitarian assistance, shelter and food for the incidents-affected people,” it added.
The health ministry dispatched a team of doctors and medical equipment to the region. It added that ten people suffered grievous injuries and were airlifted for treatment outside Blue Nile.
The military also deployed forces to the state to oversee a month-long curfew imposed by Blue Nile Governor Ahmed al-Omda Badi, who blamed supporters of ousted dictator Omar al-Bashir for arming citizens all over the country and urging them to revolt against the military led by Gen. Abdel Fattah El Burhan.
Against this backdrop, Burhan called for strengthening the presence of security forces in the region “to deal firmly and promptly with all cases of attacks on individuals, private, and public property.” He also urged Blue Nile’s security committee to “take the necessary legal measures against those who stir up sedition and incitement to acts of violence.”
Inter-communal violence and the loss of life in Sudan’s Blue Nile region is saddening and deeply concerning. I urge the local communities to exercise restraint, refrain from retaliation and work with local and regional authorities for concrete steps towards peaceful co-existence.
— Volker Perthes (@volkerperthes) July 16, 2022
United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission Sudan (UNITAMS) chief Volker Perthes called the violence “deeply concerning.” He urged local communities to “exercise restraint, refrain from retaliation and work with local and regional authorities for concrete steps towards peaceful co-existence.”
Analysts say that last year’s military coup created a “security vacuum” in the country and has led to an increase in ethnic and tribal clashes.
In October, Sudan’s military ousted its civilian-led transition government in Khartoum in a coup. Gen. Burhan dissolved the government and declared a state of emergency after arresting Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok.
In April, violent fighting between tribal groups in West Darfur killed over 200 people, injured hundreds, and displaced around 100,000 people. Since then, multiple clashes have been reported in North Kordofan, West Kordofan, and Kassala.