Khartoum: Fifty people were killed as rival Arab tribes clashed for the third time this month in the Darfur region of western Sudan, a tribal chief told a news agency.
"Members of the Rezeigat tribe riding in nine vehicles ... attacked three of our villages on Friday," Ezzedine Eissa al-Mandil of the rival Misseriya tribe said.
He said the attackers came in cars that belonged to the Frontier Guards, a paramilitary force in which Arab tribesmen are also integrated.
"The engagements started at midday and continued until sunset," he said, adding that the clashes took place in the Garsila sector, south of the town of Zalingei in West Darfur.
"We counted a total of 50 dead," he said, without giving a breakdown between the tribes.
There was no immediate confirmation from the Rezeigat tribe, but Jaafar Abdelhakim Ishaq Adam, governor of West Darfur, confirmed that at least 17 people were wounded.
"We deployed men in the sector in order to separate the belligerents. We do not know for the moment the number killed, but there are 17 wounded who were transported to the
hospital," the governor said.
Chris Cycmanick, spokesman of the joint UN-African Union peacekeeping force UNAMID, said unconfirmed reports from local inhabitants had put the toll at 40 dead and 10 wounded.
He said 40 peacekeepers had been dispatched to the area, but had been unable to reach the site where the clashes took place.
PTI
