At least three people were killed and 79 others wounded in a bout of tribal clashes between two tribes in Sudan’s eastern city of Kassala, a Sudanese official said on Sunday, reported The New York Times. The city of Kassala is located around 400 kilometers (250 miles) east of Sudan’s capital, Khartoum.
According to Maj. Gen. Mahmoud Babaker, the governor of Kassalla province, the violence spurred on Thursday between members of the Bani Amer and Nuba tribes in the eastern city of Kassala, near Sudan’s border with Eritrea, leaving scores wounded and several homes burned.
The Bani Amer tribe belongs to the Beja people living in eastern Sudan and Eritrea, while the Nuba tribe is a migrant group from a mountainous region in the conflict-ridden South Kordofan.
Babaker said the fighting had escalated by Friday morning, with many houses set on fire before authorities deployed troops to restore security in the city. At least 59 people from the two sides were arrested. It remained unclear as what triggered the dispute between the two tribes.
“By Saturday, three people from the Bani Amer tribe were killed and 79 others were wounded,” he added.
Notably, all the three deceased were members of the Bani Amer tribe.
While addressing the nation on Sunday, Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, head of the ruling sovereign council, said the military and other security agencies would act decisively to secure the country, lives of its people and property.
“We all would stand united against the plotters who are the enemies of the people … and the enemies of the people’s glorious revolution,” Burhan said.
Sudan’s military-civilian government is already working to bring an end to the insurgencies in Sudan’s far-flung provinces. Rebel groups have for months engaged in talks with the transitional authorities to establish peace, but, the two sides are yet to reach a deal.
