Clashes in Sudan’s Darfur claim 11 lives

Official says death toll likely to rise as fighting continues

At least 11 people have been killed in ongoing clashes between Arab and non-Arab groups in Sudan’s restive Darfur region, a doctor said yesterday.

Violence erupted on Wednesday around 20 kilometres from the South Darfur state capital Nyala pitting Arab herders against farmers from the Daju minority and other non-Arab ethnic groups, witnesses said.

It was not immediately clear what sparked the fighting which has shown no signs of abating.

“The number of bodies that have arrived at the hospital has reached 11,” the doctor at Nyala hospital told AFP, adding at least 20 people were treated for gunshot wounds.

Adam Regal, spokesman for the General Coordination for Refugees and Displaced in Darfur, said the death toll was “likely to be much higher as the fighting is still ongoing”. The official news agency SUNA had earlier said seven people were killed and that security forces had been sent to the area to quell the violence.

“A group of herders riding camels and vehicles attacked the village of Amuri on Friday, leaving the site burnt and four people killed,” SUNA said, adding that two people had been killed between Wednesday and Thursday.

Another person was killed when the fighting spread to nearby villages, which were “partially burnt” as shops were looted, the news agency added, quoting a government statement.

Hundreds of people protested against the violence outside a government building in Nyala, according to witnesses.

Violence erupted on Wednesday pitting Arab herders against farmers from the Daju minority and other non-Arab ethnic groups.