KHARTOUM (Reuters) – Sudanese security forces fired tear gas as thousands of Hausa protesters marched in central Khartoum on Tuesday, days after tribal clashes killed dozens in southern Sudan’s Blue Nile state.
The health ministry said late on Monday that at least 79 people had been killed and more than 200 wounded in clashes between members of the Hausa and Funj tribes that began last week, stemming from land disputes.
“These aren’t just protests, what we want is to get to the presidential palace and ask that the injustice towards the Hausa stops,” said Haroun, a 22-year-old marcher.
Others held signs and chanted slogans calling for an end to oppression of the Hausa people.
Police, central reserve forces, the army and plainclothes officers were deployed on Khartoum’s Airport Road to block the protests.
Earlier this week, curfews were imposed in two Blue Nile cities, as well as the eastern city of Kassala, following protests there that resulted in the burning of government buildings.
The tensions have spread to other cities, as many people were seen moving from Blue Nile into neighbouring Sennar state to escape the fighting.
Funj-Hausa tensions boiled over following accusations from the Funj, who have long inhabited Blue Nile state, that the Hausa were trying to lay claim to parts of their land.
There has also been sporadic violence in eastern coastal regions and western Darfur despite a nationwide peace deal signed by some rebel groups in Juba in 2020.
(Reporting by Khalid Abdelaziz, writing by Nafisa Eltahir, editing by Nick Macfie)
