Sudan: State of emergency declared in Darfur after tribal conflict leaves at least 24 dead

Sudan's Central Darfur state has declared a state of emergency "for one month" after more than 24 people were killed in a tribal conflict, tribal leaders and the official Suna agency reported Monday.

Governor Saad Adam Babiker, quoted by Suna, said the state of emergency was declared late Sunday night because "both sides of the conflict fired live ammunition at the reconciliation commission that was trying to resolve the conflict."

The conflict broke out last week between the Arab tribes of Misseriya and Aulad Rached in villages near Zalingei, the capital of Central Darfur in western Sudan.

A Misseriya tribal leader said it started with a stolen moped.

The fighting, which has left at least 24 people dead according to the Suna agency, continues despite the state of emergency.

"Houses have been burned and the situation is still out of control despite the dispatch of government troops," added an Aoulad Rached dignitary.

Since the coup by army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane in October 2021, tribal conflicts have exploded due to the security vacuum created by the coup, according to experts.

They have killed more than 800 people this year and displaced more than 265,000, according to the UN.

A 2003 war in Darfur between the Arab-majority regime of Omar al-Bashir and rebels from ethnic minorities claiming discrimination has left at least 300,000 people dead and 2.5 million displaced, mostly in the early years of the conflict, according to the UN.

Bashir, now in prison, was deposed in 2019 under pressure from the street and the army.

Darfur remains regularly shaken by violence, particularly between rival tribes. The violence is caused by territorial disputes and difficulties in accessing water, among other things.