Thousands of people from the Hausa tribe, one of the parties to the bloody tribal conflict that has been raging for a week in South Sudan, set up barricades, closed roads and attacked public facilities in several cities in the country, according to witnesses, while the death toll from the violence rose.
In an attempt to shed light on the violence in Blue Nile state, which claimed the lives of 79 people, according to local authorities, Hausa activists called for a demonstration on Tuesday in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum.
The conflict erupted on 11 July between the Hausa, African farmers present throughout the Sahel, and the Berti. Hausa people are demanding the formation of a local authority to oversee the use of land and water, a Hausa elder told AFP, asking not to be named.
In turn, the Berti tribe asserts that it owns the land and refuses to cross any residents who do not belong to the tribe or any outside supervision.
The Ministry of Health in Blue Nile state revised the death toll to 79 on Monday and the number of wounded to 199.
The government forces that were deployed in Blue Nile state succeeded in restoring calm to the area following several days of gun battles, but it was a cautious calm.
On Monday, the Sudan News Agency (SUNA) published a statement by the governor of the Blue Nile region, Ahmed Al-Omda, in which he confirmed that “the formation of a fact-finding committee on the crimes committed.”
He also attributed the causes of tribal conflicts to “hate speech and racism,” noting that “regular agencies now impose the prestige of the state and deal decisively with all violations.”
On Friday, the governor announced a one-month ban on public gatherings and demonstrations, imposing a night curfew in the state bordering Ethiopia, and spreading food in the state on Saturday.
Since then, the unrest has spread to other areas. In Kassala in the east, the government banned public gatherings following thousands of Hausas burned “part of the local government offices, as well as administrative offices and shops,” an eyewitness named Hussein Salah told AFP.
Another witness, Idris Hussein, explained that the Hausa “blocked the roads while raising sticks.” “There is a state of panic in the center of the city,” he told AFP by phone. A third witness, in turn, confirmed that “shops and banks closed their doors.”
In Wad Madani, 186 km south of Khartoum, “thousands of Hausas set up barricades of stones and burning tires on the main road and prevented traffic,” said Adel Ahmed, who lives in the city, by telephone.
Members of the Hausa tribe called for a procession to demonstrate in Khartoum, on Tuesday, under the name “Million Support for the Hausa in the Nile Region”.
Disputes over land and water resources have previously caused tribal conflicts in Sudan, where arms are circulating following decades of civil wars between north and south Sudan and in Darfur.
The scope of the clashes expanded due to the security vacuum that has arisen since the coup of the Sudanese army chief, Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, last October once morest his civilian partners in the transitional authority that was formed following the overthrow of Omar al-Bashir in April 2019.
Activists defending democracy say that these tribal conflicts serve the military and their allies from the former armed movements in Darfur, who are exploiting the security instability to press for political gains, according to AFP.
The Hausa is one of the most important tribes in Africa and includes tens of millions of people living in areas stretching from Senegal to Sudan.
Its members in Sudan number regarding three million. They are Muslims who speak a language of their own and subsist mainly from agriculture in Darfur, the region bordering Chad, as well as in Kassala, Gedaref, Sennar and the Blue Nile on the borders with Ethiopia and Eritrea.
