A Sudanese aid group on Sunday reported that at least 168 people have lost their lives in fighting between Arabs and non-Arabs in the country’s war-torn Darfur region, reported The BBC.
Darfur, which was ravaged by a civil war that erupted in 2003, has seen a spike in a deadly conflict since October last year. The violent clashes have been triggered by disputes mainly over land, livestock, and access to water and grazing.
“At least 168 people were killed on Sunday and 98 wounded,” said Adam Regal, spokesman for the General Coordination for Refugees and Displaced in Darfur, an independent aid group.
Regal said that fighting in the Kreinik area of West Darfur province had also wounded 98 others. He voiced fears that the death toll could rise.
He said the clashes first erupted on Thursday with an unknown assailant killing two people in Kreinik, around 30km (18 miles) east of Genena, the provincial capital of West Darfur. It added that at least eight people were killed on Friday and several homes were also set on fire, hospitals were attacked and goods were looted.
According to the Sudanese aid group, almost 100 more people were wounded in the violence.
The UN special representative Volker Perthes condemned the violence in the Krink region of West Darfur and called for an investigation. Several non-governmental organizations said an individual dispute sparked the fighting between Arab nomads and members of the Massalit minority in Krink.
On Sunday, the aid group accused the Sudanese government-backed militia called the Rapid Support Forces, which was formerly known as the Janjaweed, of orchestrating the latest attacks. The Janjaweed militia was blamed for atrocities including murder, rape, looting, and burning villages.
The International Committee of the Red Cross has warned of a rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation and called for the injured and sick to be allowed to seek help.
