At least 50 civilians have been killed in renewed tribal clashes between the Salamat and Beni Halba communities in Sudan’s South Darfur State, as fighting continues to spread across several areas in the region.
The violence is understood to have been prompted by the killing of a herder in the Al-Juraif area near Kubum on May 23, an incident that quickly escalated into retaliatory attacks, including an assault on a water point on May 30 that left casualties on both sides.
The fighting has intensified over the past several days in areas including Kubum and surrounding localities, where armed confrontations have triggered widespread destruction, forced displacement of residents and reports of detentions linked to the unrest.
“The fighting between the Salamat and Beni Halba has resulted in the deaths of more than 50 people as clashes between the two sides continue,” a community leader told The Sudan Tribune.
The source added that some of the victims included women and children, who were killed in an alleged drone strike originating from Nyala that targeted areas in Kubum.
He similarly accused the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of supporting one of the rival groups with military equipment, including combat vehicles and drones, although the claim could not be independently verified.
The clashes are part of a longer-running dispute between the two communities, which had previously seen violence flare up in 2023 before a ceasefire arrangement was reached through local mediation efforts, only for tensions to later resurface.
Violence has continued to escalate across Sudan’s Darfur region amid the country’s larger civil war, with fresh reports of inter-communal clashes and aerial strikes affecting multiple states.
According to the United Nations (UN), fighting in parts of Central and West Darfur over the weekend left dozens of people dead, while instability also spread to other communities in the wider region. The UN further reported that drone strikes hit areas in South Darfur, including Kubum and parts of the state capital, Nyala.
“The UN calls on all parties to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, while ensuring safe and sustained humanitarian access for people in need,” the body said on Tuesday.
The ongoing war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which erupted in April 2023, has fuelled what the United Nations describes as one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
The conflict has forced around 14 million people, roughly a quarter of Sudan’s population, to flee their homes, with about 9 million displaced internally and a further 4.4 million seeking refuge across borders, mainly in Chad, South Sudan and Egypt.
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