Sudan: Thousands Protest as 200 die in Tribal Clashes

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Thousands of protesters gathered on Sunday in front of army headquarters in the Sudanese city of Damazin, protesting recent ethnic clashes in the country’s south that have killed 200.

It was gathered that at least two hundred people were killed in two days last week after clashes broke out over reported land disputes between members of the Hausa people and rival groups.

Residents said homes and shops were set ablaze and that hundreds had fled intense gunfire.

“Hospitals are facing a huge shortage of medicine as the number of the injured increases,” the state’s Minister of Health Jamal Nasser said.

State governer Ahmed al-Omda Badi declared a state of emergency on Friday to quell some of the worst fighting in recent months.

According to the United Nations, from July to early October, at least 149 people were killed and 65,000 displaced in Blue Nile.

Protesters chanted, “Al-Omda must leave,” accusing the governer of failing to protect them, according to eyewitness Haram Othman.

The Hausa have mobilized across Sudan, claiming tribal law discriminates against them by preventing them from owning land in Blue Nile because they were the last group to arrive there.