The US and the UN estimate more than 200 dead, counting new intercommunity fighting in West Kordofan
Oct. 21 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The governor of the Sudanese region of Blue Nile, General Ahmed al Omda Badi, has declared a state of emergency in the southernmost state of the country after the local authorities have raised the number of dead during the bloody clashes to 155 in recent hours. Wednesday and Thursday between the Hausa and Berta communities.
The inter-community clashes in the Wad el Mahi area are added to another outbreak of violence in the state of Western Kordofan, also in the south of the country where the Misseriya and Nuba communities have been involved in strong struggles for the possession of land in Gangaro, near Al Lagowe, which has so far left another 19 dead and 34 injured.
To aggravate the situation, the Sudanese Army and the paramilitary Rapid Action forces accused the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement of North (SPLM-N) of bombing the area; an accusation immediately denied by this militia that operates precisely in Blue Nile and Kordofan. The group’s spokesman, Jaber Kamandan Koumi, categorically denied these accusations in comments collected by Radio Dabanga.
The US Embassy in Khartoum estimates that up to 200 people could have died this week alone in both conflict hotspots, while the World Food Program, through its representative in the country, Eddie Rowe, has called for unrestricted access to the population.
The state of emergency declared by the governor will be in force for the next 30 days after Wad el Mahi commissioner Abdelaziz Alamin confirmed to the ‘Sudan Tribune’ “at least 155 dead” as a result of clashes between the Hausa and the bertas
Other organizations, such as the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) raise the total number of dead to 170, as well as 327 wounded, if all the deceased are added counting the initial clashes between Hausa and Berta since October 13 .
Al Amin has also confirmed that the clashes began on Wednesday night in three villages in the area despite the fact that a previous curfew was already in force, as well as a ban on carrying firearms, after another wave of violence. between both communities this past summer, which also resulted in another 150 deaths, approximately.
Thus, “the state government has issued the decision after reviewing the security situation in the area and the immediate intervention of the security services to stop the tribal fighting with all available capacities and impose the powers of the state to take the measures appropriate,” according to the statement collected by the official Sudanese news agency SUNA.
