Sudan tribal clashes kill 17 people in Darfur

Sudan has seen unrest following an October military coup that rattled an already fragile democratic transition. (File/AFP)

• Fighting earlier this week also killed at least 16, in the same area
• In Khartoum, the country’s capital, protests against the military coup continue

CAIRO: At least 17 people have been killed and dozens injured in renewed violence in the past 24 hours in West Darfur, Sudan, according to a local activist and aid worker.
Sharaf Jumma Salah, a West Darfur resident and activist, said Friday that tribal clashes between Arabs and non-Arabs left at least 46 people injured, and that dozens of houses in four villages had been burnt down in the area of Jebel Moon.
Fighting earlier this week also killed at least 16, in the same area.
Adam Regal, spokesman for the General Coordination Body for Refugees and Displaced in Darfur, said on Thursday that the violence started that morning and went on for hours. He said a communications cut had made it difficult to obtain complete information from the remote area.
Regal blamed local Arab tribal militias known as janjaweed for the attack.
Clashes in Jebel Moon erupted in mid-November over a land dispute between Arab and non-Arab tribes. Dozens have been killed since then and authorities have deployed more troops to the area. Sporadic fighting has continued, however.
Sudan has seen unrest following an October military coup that rattled an already fragile democratic transition. The African country has also faced uphill security and economic challenges since the 2019 overthrow of longtime autocrat Omar Al-Bashir and his Islamist government.
In Khartoum, the country’s capital, protests against the military coup continue. Two teenagers were killed by gunfire in demonstrations on Thursday, according to the Sudan Doctors Committee. The group, which has kept track of protester deaths and injuries since the coup, has tallied a total of 87 killed.
The instability has led to deteriorating security conditions in other parts of the country, like the war-wrecked region of Darfur.
The yearslong Darfur conflict broke out when rebels from the territory’s ethnic central and sub-Saharan African community launched an insurgency in 2003, complaining of oppression by the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum.
Al-Bashir’s government responded with a campaign of aerial bombings and raids by the janjaweed, a militia that has been accused of mass killings and rapes. Up to 300,000 people were killed and 2.7 million were driven from their homes in Darfur over the years.
Al-Bashir, who has been in prison in Khartoum since his ouster, also faces international charges of genocide and crimes against humanity related to the Darfur conflict.