21 killed in Arab tribal clashes in West Darfur

March 7, 2010 (KHARTOUM) – About 21 people were killed in tribal fighting that had occurred last week between Abdalla Maharia and Misseriya, in Khaur Ramla west of Nertiti, West Darfur, a local official told the AFP today.

Darfur rebels said last Friday that 15 people were killed and accused Khartoum government of instigating the clashes, but the governor Abu Al-Gassim Imam Al-Haj stated today the death toll raised to 21.

The Governor said eleven people died in fighting between the Misseriya and Abdalla Maharia clan known as Umda Aldawai tribes that broke out on Wednesday and 10 others were killed in renewed clashes on Saturday.

He said the fighting started due to the death of a Sudanese army soldier from the Misseriya tribe in an ambush last February. The Misseriya tribe blamed the rival Abdalla Maharia clan tribe for the soldier’s death and demanded financial compensation, he added.

“We have dispatched security forces and a reconciliation team, but we also need support from the humanitarian affairs commission in Khartoum and from aid groups” to resolve the conflict, he stressed.

Members of both Arab communities in South Darfur were armed by the government of Sudan and conducted raids on black African communities of the Fur tribe during the early stages of the conflict, but as resources become scarce they have begun fighting among themselves.

(ST)