The United Nations on Monday said at least 40 people have been killed and 58 injured in violent tribal clashes since Saturday in Sudan’s western Darfur region, El-Geneina, reported Reuters.
“Since April 3, 40 people have been killed in recent clashes between the Al-Massalit and Arab tribes. The situation remains tense in the town of El-Geneina,” the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a statement.
“The government’s humanitarian aid commission reports (…) 58 injuries,” the statement added.
The Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors, a body founded in 2016 to represent the medical community, had previously announced a provisional death toll of 18 and 54 injured.
The clashes began after two people died and two others were wounded when a man shot at members of the Al-Massalit tribe who were towing their car to El-Geneina on Saturday.
Sudan’s security and defense committee on Monday said it had authorized forces to gain control of the situation and continue a forcible disarmament campaign in the area.
The UN said humanitarian operations and flights have been stopped until further notice in the city, which is the hub of humanitarian aid in the region, affecting over 700,000 people.
In January, tribal clashes in Darfur resulted in the death of more than 200 people. El-Geneina reported the most number of deaths at over 100 and 132 injuries, according to OCHA.
The conflict in Sudan’s Darfur began in 2003 between forces of the regime of former President Omar al-Bashir, who was ousted in April 2019, and members of ethnic minorities.
The violence has left some 300,000 people dead and more than 2.5 million displaced so far, mostly in the early years of the conflict, according to the UN.
The Sudanese transitional government, formed after Bashir’s ousting, signed a peace agreement in October with several rebel groups, particularly from Darfur. But some insurgent groups in that region have not signed the peace agreement.
A UN Security Council delegation visited North Darfur on April 1 to investigate the situation in the region and address security concerns.
