Clashes between two tribes in Sudan’s Blue Nile state, at the border of Ethiopia, resulted in the death of at least 31 people according to security services reports on Saturday. Violence erupted initially on Monday over a disputed land between the Berti and the Hawsa tribes which left 31 people dead and 39 wounded, while 16 shops had been torched.

On Saturday, clashes resumed closer to the state capital, Al Damazin, based on information from witnesses. Resident Fatima Hamad, from the city of Al-Roseires across the river from Al-Damazin, told AFP that they “heard gunshots and saw smoke rising” while Ahmad Youssef, another resident, said “dozens of families” crossed the bridge into the city to flee the violence.

After Blue Nile Governor, Ahmed Al-Omda, issued an order banning all rallies and marches for one month, soldiers were deployed and a night curfew was put in place on Saturday. Medical sources state that hospitals have made a desperate plea for blood donations in order to treat casualties of the turmoil.

The violence erupted when the Berti tribe rejected a Hawsa proposal to establish a "civil authority to supervise access to land," a prominent Hawsa member told AFP on condition of anonymity. However, a senior Bertis claimed that the tribe was retaliating for the Hawsas' "violation" of their territories.

Unrest has long plagued the Blue Nile state and the Qissan area. Southern Sudan had been at odds with Sudan since the era of former Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir of Sudan, who was ousted in 2019. 

Previously in South Sudan

Several dozen people have been killed in a disputed area on the border between Sudan and South Sudan, the UN reported in March.

The fighting, OCHA (the UN's emergency response agency) said, took place in the oil-rich region of Abyei and left 36 people dead and many others injured. It also displaced around 50,000 people.

Violence has recently surged in the Abyei Administrative Area as a result of a mix of territorial disputes, inter-tribal tensions, and vendettas.

The fighting, which began in February but increased in March, has gotten so heated that humanitarian operations in the area were suspended and relief workers were relocated to safety.

Read more: Death toll of Sudanese protestors since Oct. 25 coup reaches 103