Sudan: 150 dead in two days in intercommunity clashes in the Blue Nile
Sudanese gather during fresh communal clashes in al-Roseires, Blue Nile State, southern Sudan, in early September 2022 (illustrative image) AFP - -
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2 mins
At least 150 people - including women and children - were killed on Wednesday and Thursday October 20 in fresh clashes between communities in Blue Nile, southern Sudan.
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With our correspondent in Khartoum,
Eliott Brachet
The UN mission in Sudan has expressed its “
serious concern over the escalation of
deadly violence” between tribes in Blue Nile as well as in West Kordofan state, calling on the authorities to attack “
the roots of the problem
and to guarantee “
the right of the inhabitants to security
”.
Since Monday, the authorities had imposed a night curfew in this border area of Ethiopia after the death of 13 people.
But nothing worked.
The violence resumed
despite the deployment of large security forces in the area.
Clashes continued Thursday evening in the locality of Wad el-Mahi, 60 kilometers from Damazin, the capital of Blue Nile state.
A Doctors Without Borders employee on site describes a chaotic situation and overwhelmed hospitals.
Many wounded by bullets and stab wounds.
But above all, survivors charred by the flames.
After the men were shot down with heavy weapons, entire city blocks were reduced to ashes.
They housed mainly women and children who had taken refuge there.
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To read also: Sudan: violence in the Blue Nile "above all political"
According to several witnesses, the attacks began on Wednesday afternoon.
Residents from the Gumuz tribe were attacked by Hausa gunmen.
Since July, tension has been at its height between communities.
The Hausa claim the right to own land.
The other tribes oppose it and consider that the Hausa were privileged under the regime of Omar al-Bashir.
“
Tribal conflicts are instrumentalised
”, slices a lawyer from Damazin.
"
It's a conflict over resources
," he continues.
The Blue Nile region is extremely rich in gold.
The Sudanese army and the Support Forces militiamen who dispatched troops to the area have both set up mining companies there.
These deaths come on top of the 149 other people who were killed between July and early October which left hundreds injured and 65,000 displaced in Blue Nile state, according to the UN.
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