\n Dozens of people were killed in clashes between two Arab tribes in Sudan's troubled East Darfur state on Monday, a politician told AFP.\n<\/p>\n
\n Fighting broke out between the Rezeigat and Maaliya groups around the Abu Karinka area of East Darfur state, the latest in a series of bloody ethnic and tribal conflicts in the region.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"The Rezeigat killed 60 people in their attack on the Maaliya and when the Rezeigat departed they left behind them 36 dead bodies and a number of wounded who have not been counted yet,\" said Hamdan Tirab, a member of the state's parliament for Abu Karinka, said by telephone.\n<\/p>\n
\n Access to Darfur is strictly limited, so it is not possible to independently verify the toll.\n<\/p>\n
\n Fighting \"started at around 11:00 am (0900 GMT) and continued until dusk, and heavy weapons and government vehicles were used,\" Tirab said.\n<\/p>\n
\n A Rezeigat leader said on condition of anonymity: \"We lost 40 of our men in the fighting that took place in the Abu Karinka area today, but I do not know how many were killed from the other side\".\n<\/p>\n
\n The latest violence comes amid long-standing tensions between the two tribes over land ownership rights and allegations of cattle theft.\n<\/p>\n
\n A government-initiated peace conference between the tribes in February ended without agreement.\n<\/p>\n
\n Maaliya youth leader Azraq Hassan Humeida told AFP by phone the Rezeigat attacked Abu Karinka \"using all kinds of heavy weapons, including rocket launchers\".\n<\/p>\n
\n Tribesmen had been building up in the area before the fighting broke out, a resident of Abu Karinka said by phone.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"For three days, both tribes have been massing in the Abu Karinka area,\" Musa Hamed said.\n<\/p>\n
\n The United Nations said it was deeply worried by the violence.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"I am very concerned by this outbreak of fighting,\" the UN's interim humanitarian coordinator for Sudan, Geert Cappelaere, said in a statement.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"I call on all parties to stop fighting immediately, exercise restraint to prevent further escalation, and support mediation efforts to resolve the underlying causes of this conflict.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n Darfur has been wracked by conflict since 2003, when ethnic insurgents launched a campaign against the Arab-dominated government of President Omar al-Bashir.\n<\/p>\n
\n The conflict has cost 300,000 lives and forced some 2.5 million people to flee their homes, according to the UN.\n<\/p>\n
\n Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court over alleged war crimes in the region.\n<\/p>\n
\n Rising criminality and disputes over resources in parts of the region have further destabilised Darfur.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dozens of people were killed in clashes between two Arab tribes in Sudan's troubled East Darfur state on Monday, a politician told AFP. Fighting broke out between the Rezeigat and Maaliya groups around the Abu Karinka area of East Darfur state, the latest in a series of bloody ethnic and tribal conflicts in the region. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[553],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-feed"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n