At Least 80 Dead in Darfur Tribal Battles, Leaders Say
At least 80 people have been killed in the latest outbreak of fighting between Arab groups in western Sudan's Darfur region, tribal leaders said on Friday.
"Fighting was going on until last night and from our side we have 37 dead," said Ibrahim al-Sheikh, a leader of the Beni Halba tribe.
He claimed more than 100 members of the rival Gimir group were also killed but a Gimir chief, Abaker al-Toum, said 44 of his people had died.
The fighting took place in Edd al-Fursan, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) southwest of the South Darfur state capital Nyala.
Both sides agreed they were fighting over land, with each side claiming ownership.
The U.N.'s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), cited the Sudan government's Humanitarian Aid Commission as confirming "new inter-tribal fighting between the Gimir and Beni Halba tribes over land ownership" in South Darfur.
"Seven people from the Gimir tribe were reportedly killed in an attack on 26 April. The fighting is continuing", OCHA said in its weekly humanitarian bulletin issued late on Thursday.
About 2,000 members of the Gimir and Assignor tribes have been displaced, said OCHA, citing government figures.
Toum, the Gimir chief, accused the paramilitary Central Reserve Police of siding with the Beni Halba.
"There is huge tension in the area. Beni Halba are preparing a large number of troops to attack, and Central Reserve and their weapons are part of this," he said.
The Central Reserve is one of the government forces used against rebels who have been fighting in Darfur since 2003 against the Arab-dominated regime in Khartoum.
Darfuri members of the Reserve formerly belonged to the Janjaweed, a government-backed militia which shocked the world with atrocities against ethnic minority civilians suspected of supporting the rebels.
A United Nations panel of experts reported in February that eyewitnesses and victims blamed elements of the Central Reserve and other paramilitaries "for acts of harassment and intimidation" in rural areas or inside camps for Darfur's 1.4 million displaced.
In April the United Nations said 50,000 people from southwestern Darfur had fled over the border to Chad because of inter-tribal conflict. Clashes had occurred between the Misseriya and Salamat groups.
The Salamat tribe accused Central Reserve members of joining fighting in the area.
Competition for resources, from water to gold, is a key driver of conflict in Darfur, where ethnic rebels rose up against the Arab-dominated Khartoum government in 2003.
While the worst of the violence has long passed, rebel-government battles continue along with tribal disputes, inter-Arab fighting, kidnappings, carjackings and other crimes.
Source: Agence France Presse
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