No fewer than 40 people were killed in violent clashes in El Geneina, the capital city of Sudan’s West Darfur state, according to the UN humanitarian coordination office in Sudan (OCHA).
In a statement by the OCHA, about 40 people have been killed in recent clashes between the Al-Massalit and Arab tribes, with 58 injured since April 3.
The atmosphere remains tense in El Genuine even as gunfire could still be heard there late on Monday afternoon.
Sudan’s Security and Defense Council declared on Monday a state of emergency in West Darfur state and mandated regular forces to adopt all necessary measures to end armed clashes.
Sudan’s Darfur region has been mired in a civil war since 2003. In December 2020, the UN Security Council unanimously passed a resolution that ends the mandate of the United Nations-African Union Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID). About 16,000 UNAMID soldiers deployed in Darfur since 2007 are set to complete their mission in July.
A UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS) will take over UNAMID’s tasks in the region.