KHARTOUM (Reuters) – At least five people were killed and nine injured in tribal clashes between members of the Miseriya and Nuba tribes in Sudan’s West Kordofan state, the country’s military said on Saturday.
The violence, which occurred on Friday and Saturday in the town of Lagawa, was brought under control after intervention by the army and Rapid Support Forces, as well as police, a military statement said.
Lagawa lies outside a part of the state controlled by rebel leader Abdelziz al-Hilu’s faction of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-North), whose army includes members of the Nuba tribe.
The group has long been at odds with the Sudanese government, and members of the Arab Miseriya tribe have participated in the conflict.
On Friday, nine Arab tribesmen arrived in Khartoum after being held captive by the SPLM-North.
Their release followed talks between the group’s leadership, Sudan’s sovereign council head General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and South Sudanese brokers, a separate military statement said, describing the release as a “goodwill gesture”.
(Reporting by Khalid Abdelaziz; Writing by Nafisa Eltahir; Editing by David Clarke)
