At least 30 people have been killed and dozens injured in new inter-communal clashes over the weekend in the southern Sudanese state of West Kordofan, amid an upsurge in such incidents in recent months in the African country.
Ahmed Ibrahim abu Shaqa, a leader of the Humer tribe, said that armed people ambushed members of this group who had launched an operation in the area following a cattle raid in Abu Jafala, according to the Sudan Tribune news portal.
It indicated that those responsible for the ambush, which resulted in 30 deaths, were members of the Miseriya community. These two tribes have been involved in several clashes over the last two years in a series of disputes over the control of land.
Abu Shaqa also deplored the «negative» role of the government forces present in the area and demanded that they be replaced by agents from other Sudanese states, arguing that most of their members currently belong to the Miseriya community.
Clashes between the two communities have flared up again since July, when the West Kordofan Security Committee and Miseriya leaders set up a committee to demarcate the border between El Sunut, with a Miseriya majority, and El Nehud, with a Hamar majority, without taking the latter into account, as reported by Radio Dabanga.
Inter-community clashes in Sudan are often motivated by cattle theft and disputes between herders and farmers in the most fertile areas of the country, especially due to the increase in desertification and population displacement.
