The atypical tribal conflict!

Photo credit: Alarabiya.net

It is not abnormal for tribal clashes to occurred, from time to time, between two or more multi-ethnic groups in Sudan in general and in the Darfur region in particular, taking into account the crisis in the region and its disruptive impact on economic and political aspects of people’s lives, leading to conflicting interests and scuffles over scarce resources.

What is not normal, however, is that recent incidents in North Darfur, where more than 100 people were killed and another 70, 000 displaced from their homes because of recent tribal clashes which escalated into a bloody and extremely brutal conflict.

Many media outlets had earlier quoted the deputy chairman of the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) in Al Serif locality, Hussein Mohammed Al Mahdi as saying that weapons used by armed tribal groups during the fighting were quite advanced and included heavily armed, fully equipped vehicles. High-profile attacks were carried out within one hour on more than 45 villages located around the locality, which were completely burned down, said Al Mahdi.

When we say that such incidents are out of the norm, we mean that the reasons behind the incidents were nothing to die for; an example being the confrontations in Jebel Amir in North Darfur -between the Rizeigat and Beni Hussein tribes – over traditional gold mining locations.

The unfortunate thing here is - and this raises suspicions - is that the conflict this time occurred within ethnic components of the same Arab root! This actually reveals that there are those who seek to fan the flames of such conflict and sedition in the region, in order to claim that Arab tribes formerly accused of targeting non-Arab ethnic groups, are now fighting each other.

The incidents, despite their tragic nature, seem to confirm that the conflict in Darfur was never based on the assumption of opposite ethnicity “Arab against African”, as claimed by some, but is in essence a conflict over resources. 

Taking these factors into consideration, and the fact that Amnesty International has recently accused government forces of involvement inthe clashes, it is the responsibility of the government to urgently investigate the issue and take appropriate measures before the situation escalates out of control, possibly leading to international interventions.