KHARTOUM, July 17 (Xinhua) — The death toll from days of tribal clashes in Sudan’s southeastern Blue Nile State rose to 65 till Sunday morning, Al-Sudani Newspaper reported Sunday.
In addition, “192 people (were) injured and 120 families displaced,” Jamal Nasir Elsayed, the state’s health minister, was quoted by the report as saying.
The majority of the victims were young people who were either shot or stabbed, the minister said.
In Khartoum, Sudan’s Security and Defense Council held an emergency meeting to discuss the security situation in Blue Nile State, the council said in a statement on Sunday.
The council directed the attorney general to form a fact-finding committee and called on the state’s security committee to take necessary legal measures against those who provoke sedition and violence.
The council also decided to reinforce the security forces in the region and to continue to firmly deal with all cases of disorder and attacks on individuals and private and public property.
Clashes broke out recently between Hausa and Berta tribes in many areas in Blue Nile State following the killing of a farmer in the state’s Gisan area.
On Saturday evening, the Sudanese army deployed armored vehicles on the main streets of Blue Nile State, which, according to residents and eyewitnesses, brought relative calm to the state. ■
