Dozens of families fled the tribal conflict in the Sudanese Blue Nile, border of Ethiopia on Saturday. The Hausas and the Bartis clash for access to land, in a country often plagued by such violence.
Le Monde with AFP
The Blue Nile region, south-east of Sudan, has been igniting for a week due to a dispute between two tribes. At least 33 dead and 108 injured are to be deplored, according to a statement from the Ministry of Health which reported sixteen burned stores since the clashes broke out on Monday July 11, following a land conflict between the Hausa tribes and Barti, in the Qissan district.
“We need reinforcements of troops to regain control of the situation,” asked Adel Agar, of the Municipality of Al-Roseires, while doctors from the city hospital also claimed reinforcements in the face of the growing number of injured. According to Mr. Agar, many people, including injured, sought refuge in police stations. He was unable to give an assessment but pleaded for the rapid intervention of a mediator. Soldiers were deployed and a curfew imposed from Saturday.
A dignitary of Hausas explained to the agency France Presse (AFP), under the cover of anonymity, that the conflict had degenerated because its clan demands for a long time “the formation of a local civil authority to supervise the ‘Access to land, which the Bartis refuses “. On the Barti side, a dignitary who also refused to be revealed, said that his clan had responded “to a violation of the Bartis lands” by the Hausas. “These lands are ours, so if we want to form a local authority, it will only be made up of Bartis and not of Hausas,” he insisted.
resurgence of tribal violence
Violence, after a brief respite, resumed on Saturday near the local capital of al-Damazine. “We heard shots” and “seen columns of smoke rising,” described to AFP Fatima Hamad, a resident of al-Roseire. This city is only separated from Al-Damazine, chief town of Blue Nile 800 kilometers south of Khartoum, only by a bridge over the Nile. A resident of al-Damazine, Ahmed Youssef, said he saw “dozens of families, especially women and children” cross to flee the fights.