UN says 380 killed in Sudan tribal clashes in January-August period

CAIRO - Around 380 people were killed in tribal clashes in Sudan between January and August, most of them in the conflict-wracked Darfur region, the UN said Tuesday.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA, said more than 430 people were injured during the same period, which has seen 224 violent incidents in 12 of the country’s 18 provinces.

The clashes - mostly between Arab and non-Arab tribes - have displaced around 177,340 people, OCHA said, further straining operations of aid agencies in the crisis-hit country.

West Darfur province was the hardest hit with 76 incidents that killed at least 145 people and wounded 156 others, it said.

The tally did not include 23 people, including two children, who were killed when tribal fighting renewed earlier this month in the Blue Nile Province, Save the Children charity said.

The violence, which erupted Sept. 1 and last for four days in the town of Roseires, also wounded 23 people, including 10 children, according to the charity.

Sudan, home to several long-running ethnic conflicts, has plunged into chaos since a military coup last year. The takeover upended the country’s short-lived transition to democracy after a popular uprising forced the removal of longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir in April 2019.