By Enyichukwu Enemanna
No fewer than 31 people were killed in a fresh ethnic clash on Saturday in a Sudanese southern province, authorities said.
This is the latest bloodshed in a country in crisis since military coup that swept off civil rule.
The fighting between the Hausa and Birta ethnic groups in the Blue Nile province emanated from the killing of a farmer earlier this week, according to a statement from the local government late Friday.
The clashes continued Saturday afternoon despite the deployment of more troops in the region, according to the Sudan’s Doctors Committee, which tracks violence across the country.
The local government deployed the military and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to bring stability to the region.
Authorities had imposed a nightly curfew and banned gatherings in the area where the clashes took place.
The clashes also left at least 39 people injured and damaged dozens of shops in the town of Roseires, the local government said.
Doctors Committee said more injured were brought to hospitals Saturday, amid a shortage of emergency and life-saving medicine in the province. It called authorities in the capital of Khartoum to help evacuate injured people for advanced treatment.
The violence came amid chaos in Sudan since the military’s took over in October, removing a transitional government that ruled the country since a popular uprising forced the overthrow of longtime leader, Omar al-Bashir in April 2019.
