At least 350 killed in 5 days of Sudan tribal clashes

Khartoum, June 4 (EFE).- At least 350 people have been killed, 220 injured, and nine villages destroyed during five days of fierce clashes between rival tribes in South Darfur, southwestern Sudan, local authorities said on Thursday.

The violence erupted in the town of Kabum between members of the Salamat and Bani Halba tribes, reportedly after a dispute over the theft of a vehicle and livestock, according to South Darfur Governor Bashir Marsal.

«The number of victims in the tribal conflict over the past five days has exceeded 350 dead and 220 injured, with nine villages burned and hundreds of families displaced,» Marsal said in a televised interview.

The governor said many of the combatants belong to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and have used heavy weaponry in the fighting, significantly increasing casualties on both sides.

Marsal added that the fighters have refused to surrender their weapons, a development he said demonstrates that «their tribal loyalty is stronger than their loyalty to their military unit» and suggests that commanders have lost control over them.

He blamed the RSF leadership for fueling the violence by supplying tribal groups with heavy weapons, arguing that the militarization of local disputes has intensified insecurity across Darfur.

The latest clashes mark the third outbreak of violence between the Salamat and Bani Halba tribes since Sudan’s civil war began in April 2023 between the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces.

Large parts of South Darfur have long been affected by recurring tensions between the two communities, whose decades-old rivalry centers largely on territorial control and local authority.

Elsewhere in Sudan, fighting remains concentrated in the Kordofan region. More than 50 people have reportedly been killed in North Kordofan in recent attacks attributed to paramilitary forces.

The conflict in Sudan has claimed an estimated 400,000 lives over the past three years, according to U.S. estimates, and has triggered what humanitarian organizations describe as the world’s most severe displacement and hunger crisis. EFE

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