Nearly 50 people have been killed in ethnic clashes in Kreinik, a town in Sudan’s West Darfur State after an argument about a mobile phone spiralled into violence.
The inter-communal clashes between Arabs and non-Arabs reportedly left at least 40 others injured in Sudan’s West Darfur State on Sunday.
Internally displaced people in Kreinik camp were attacked and their houses torched by militias, witnesses said. They also alleged militias were supported by a paramilitary group, the Rapid Support Forces.
It appears that the latest wave of fighting stems from a dispute late Saturday between a customer and the owner of a cell phone store who was fatally shot.
After the murder, Arab fighters known as Janjaweed attacked the camp early on Sunday morning.
Kreinik Hospital received over 40 wounded, local media reports quoting one Mustafa Mohammed Zain, a medical assistant at the facility, said on Monday.
“Up to now we are still receiving wounded people even though the fighting stopped at around 5am this morning,” he said. “Some of them are in critical condition and some might die within one or two hours.”
The UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Sudan estimates that 4,300 people have been displaced since last week by fighting in the Jebel Moon region of West Darfur state.
Darfur has seen clashes between different ethnic groups despite a peace agreement signed between the government and armed groups more than a year ago.
As part of the Juba Peace Agreement, various forces were supposed to deploy a 12,000-strong force in Darfur within 90 days to secure the area and provide protection for civilians.
