UN says renewed tribal clashes kill 13 in southern Sudan

CAIRO — Renewed tribal clashes in a southern province in Sudan killed at least 13 people and injured more than two dozen others since late last week in the latest violence to hit the chaotic nation in recent months, the U.N. said Monday.

Clashes between the Hausa and Birta ethnic groups began Thursday over a land dispute in the Wad al-Mahi District in the Blue Nile province, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

The fighting, which lasted for four days before subsiding Sunday, displaced at least 1,200 people who were taking refuge in schools there, it said.

Government offices and the town’s market were closed, making it difficult for its residents to get their daily needs, it said. Authorities also imposed restrictions on people’s movements in the area amid fears of revenge attacks, it said.

The U.N. migration agency said the Jabalaween tribe, which is on the side of the Brita group, expelled its rivals, the Hausa, from the area, which has been inaccessible to humanitarian agencies.

The fighting between the two tribes originally began in mid-July. A total of 149 people were killed and 124 others wounded as of Oct. 6, according to OCHA.

The fighting in the Blue Nile province triggered violent protests in other provinces where thousands, mostly Hausa, took to the streets to protest the government’s lack of response to the clashes.

It was the latest tribal violence to hit Sudan, which is home to several long-running ethnic conflicts. The country was already in turmoil since the military took over the government in a coup last year.

The military’s takeover removed a civilian-led Western backed government, upending the country’s short-lived transition to democracy after nearly three decades of repressive rule by autocrat Omar al-Bashir. A popular uprising forced the removal of al-Bashir and his government in April 2019.