Sudan: scores of people killed in tribal clashes in Blue Nile state

The death toll from days of tribal clashes in the southern Sudanese state of Blue Nile has climbed to at least 65 people, according to a senior health official.

Around 150 people have been injured in the fighting between the Hausa and Birta ethnic groups, the state’s health minister, Gamal Nasser al-Sayed, said.

Most of the dead were young men, he added.

Sayed urged authorities in the capital of Khartoum to help airlift 15 seriously injured people because hospitals in Blue Nile did not have the equipment and life-saving medicine they needed.

The fighting was sparked by the killing of a farmer earlier last week and continued until Saturday, according to the local government.

Authorities deployed the military and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces to bring stability to the region. They also imposed a nightly curfew and banned gatherings in the towns of Roseires and Damazin, where the clashes took place.

Local media reported that thousands of people had fled their homes since the clashes broke out.

Sudan has a long history of tribal violence and is in turmoil since the military took over in a coup in October.

The coup upended the country’s short-lived transition to democracy after nearly three decades of repressive rule under Omar al-Bashir. He and his Islamist government were removed from power in a popular uprising in April 2019.