Fresh clashes between farmers and herders in Sudan’s Darfur over grazing land killed three civilians on Sunday, a doctor’s committee linked to the country’s protest movement said, reported The National.
“Three citizens were killed this morning in Shengel Tobay, in North Darfur state, and another was wounded,” the Central Committee of Sudan Doctors said.
Violent clashes over pasture and grazing land have been relatively rare in Darfur recently. However, it was one of the root causes of a deadly war that erupted in 2003.
The latest incident was Sudan’s first since months of mass protests brought down longtime President Omar Al Bashir and created an opportunity for civilian rule in the country.
The deadly conflict that erupted more than 15 years ago in Sudan saw ethnic African rebels take up arms against Bashir’s regime, which they accused of marginalizing the remote region. In response, the Sudanese government started a campaign of ethnic cleansing against Darfur’s non-Arabs. It armed Arab pastoralists to quash the rebellion, leading to the death of hundreds of thousands of civilians that earned Bashir and other international warrants on charges of for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.
While the fighting has subsided in Darfur, tension over pasture remains and those responsible for fuelling the conflict have not been brought to justice.
“The former regime fuelled the conflict and contributed to deepening the crisis by not helping to provide sustainable solutions, and not holding perpetrators accountable,” the doctor’s committee said.
Bashir was ousted in April after ruling for almost three decades in power and a temporary power-sharing agreement was reached a week ago by the country’s ruling military council and civilian protest leaders. The agreement will serve as Sudan’s de facto interim constitution. However, it does not mention the fate of Bashir and others wanted by the International Criminal Court.
