46+ dead in cattle raids across Sudan-South Sudan border

More than 46 people including women from the Misseriya and Dinka tribes have been killed and 10,850 head of cattle, sheep, and goats have been stolen in three separate clashes between the Misseriya and armed groups from South Sudan at El Darab, Um Geroun, and Um Kadma areas in El Dibab locality in West Kordofan so far this month.

On Wednesday Ismail Hamdan, the Amir of Awlad Omran tribe, told Radio Dabanga that there have been exchanges of theft of livestock and murder between Misseriya and Dinka.

Ismail Hamdan held the Sudanese government responsible for the occurrence of the three incidents which occurred in Sudanese territory and appealed to the governments of the two countries to deploy joint forces on the border to control and prevent crimes.

‘Cautious calm’

Regarding the latest developments in the area, Hasan Hamidein said that the region is witnessing a cautious calm and a delegation from the federal and the state governments moved to the areas of the incidents yesterday.

Hasan Sheikheldin, the head of the National Umma Party (NUP) in the state, attributed the main cause of the conflict in the region to cattle theft and the absence of government and native administrations involvement from the Sudanese and South Sudanese sides.

He told Radio Dabanga that the incidents took place 40 kilometres inside Sudanese territory where the assailants used small arms and four-wheel drive vehicles in the face of unarmed citizens.

Disarmament

He held the government responsible for the incidents, pointing to the government's disarmament of the herders without providing them with protection by securing the border between the two countries.

Sheikheldin explained that tribal conflicts in the region are the result of a reflection of the positions of the political heads of state in both countries.

He said the tribes on the border could coexist peacefully with each other, but the influence of the politics of the two countries reflects negatively on the components of the border communities of the two countries.

Cross-border

Seven people were shot dead and eight others were wounded in an armed cattle theft operation allegedly carried out by militiamen from Chad at Mitere administrative unit of Beida locality in West Darfur on Monday.

Witnesses and sources from Beida locality told Radio Dabanga that the raiders netted about 500 head of cattle and drove them across the border into Chad.