KHARTOUM – Clashes between south Sudan’s army and Darfuri Arab tribes killed 58 people, raising tension along the border with the north of the country as the results of the first open elections in 24 years are released, officials said yesterday.
Sudan’s oil-producing south was allowed to keep a separate army and form a semi-autonomous government in a 2005 peace deal ending more than two decades of civil war with the north.
Southerners will vote in a referendum on January 9th, 2011, on independence.
“There was movement from the Rizeigat [tribe] and from the SPLA [the southern Sudan People’s Liberation Army]. I can’t tell you who attacked who first but they clashed,” Rizeigat Arab tribal leader Mohamed Eissa Aliu said.
“It happened on Friday and those killed from the Rizeigat were 58 and 85 injured.”
He said the attack was in Balballa, south Darfur, which borders the western Bahr al-Ghazal in the south.
The SPLA said it was attacked by the northern Sudanese army (SAF) in Raja, a remote part of Bahr al-Ghazal state.
An SAF spokesman denied any involvement but confirmed the SPLA attack on the Rizeigat in Darfur, calling it “a clear violation of the [peace deal]”.
Yesterday, the SPLA said it had been attacked for a second time in Raja and had been forced to retreat. – (Reuters)