At least three people have been killed and 79 injured in clashes between two tribes in eastern Sudan, an official said on Sunday. The violence began Thursday between members of the Bani Amer tribe and others of the Nouba tribe in the city of Kassala, near the border with Eritrea.
In a statement, the governor of Kassala, Babikr Homd, said that the violence had quickly escalated. "Between Thursday and Saturday, three members of the Bani Amer tribe were killed and 79 people injured," he said, adding that houses had been burned down. According to him, the situation is still not appeased despite the intervention of the police to disperse the rallies.
Read also: Sudan at the dawn of a new era
The violence started after a dispute between two individuals whose origin is unknown, according to Hussein Saleh, a resident of the city. The Bani Amer are part of the Beja non-Arab Muslim ethnicity, traditionally camel herders who live in eastern Sudan and Eritrea. The Noubas come from an African and animist or Christian ethnic group, established for a long time in northern Sudan, Arab-Muslim.
In 2019, seven people were killed in clashes between the two tribes in Port Sudan, the country's main port and capital of the Red Sea State. Tribal clashes, often fatal, regularly shake Sudan, especially in remote regions like Darfur (west).
Earlier this week, 30 people were killed in tribal clashes in South Darfur.