E-Paper
55 killed in Darfur border clashes: Tribal chief
At least 55 people were killed and 85 wounded in fighting between the south Sudan army and Arab nomads from the western region of Darfur, a tribal chief said today.
At least 55 people were killed and 85 wounded in fighting between the south Sudan army and Arab nomads from the western region of Darfur, a tribal chief said on Sunday.
"We have 55 dead and 85 wounded in our camp," after fighting along the sensitive border between Darfur and south Sudan on Saturday, Mohammed Issa Aliou said.
"There are many members of the Rezeigat tribe who are heading to the (site of the clashes) in order to help out. There are also reinforcements from the south Sudan army coming from three cities -- Raja, Aweil and Wau," said Aliou, one of the heads of the Rezeigat tribe, which is based mainly in Darfur.
"The tension is high," he said.
He said the Arab nomads had been searching for new pastures and water for their cattle near the border with the southern state of Western Bahr al-Ghazal.
The south Sudan army said on Saturday it had been attacked in the Balballa sector of Western Bahr al-Ghazal, but said the attackers were from the northern-based central government army, not Rezeigat tribesmen.
"A company of 120 SPLA soldiers was attacked on Friday night by armed men wearing uniforms of the northern army that were heavily equipped," Major General Kuol Deim Kuol of the southern former rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army said.
