While the political authorities in Khartoum have been preoccupied with the current political crisis, and tensions between civilian political forces on the one hand and the military on the other, tribal clashes have started to break out away from the capital. Sudanese authorities announced, on October 15, that 5 were killed and 9 others injured as a result of what the army described as “frictions” between tribes over two days in the city of Laqawa, in the Kordofan governorate, in the south. Thousands of people have fled to the military base there, amid fears of a widening conflict that could lead to more casualties. In another area, Wad Al-Mahi, in the Blue Nile state southeast of Sudan, armed clashes resumed between two tribes, which left 4 people dead, and several homes burned.
The current caretaker government headed by Abdel-Fattah Al-Burhan hastened to take urgent measures in an attempt to control these clashes and limit their geographical scope. These actions included the following:
Military reinforcements: Following the outbreak of tribals conflicts, authorities sent military reinforcements, from the Rapid Support Forces and elements of the police, to separate the warring parties, secure vital facilities, and prevent widening violence.
A Call for National Dialogue: Government officials have called on the warring tribes to solve their problems through dialogue, renouncing violence, and any call to arms. Statements, including the one made by Malik Agar, member of the Transitional Sovereignty Council and head of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) northern sector, stressed the need to address the issues of West Kordofan peacefully through constructive dialogue and the strengthening of social cohesion.
Meetings with Warring Tribes: The Sudanese transitional authorities typically responds to such crises by sending officials from the capital Khartoum, or from the local administration of the governorate where these clashes are taking place, to meet with heads of tribes. In West Kordofan, a meeting was held between Mohammed Noureen Alain, member of the “Supreme Committee of the Unification of the Missiriya Tribal Conference”, and several representatives of the “Missiriya” and “Nuba” tribes. The meeting stressed the importance of peaceful coexistence between the tribes residing in West Kordofan State, as well as the need to discuss the issue of the revenue from the oil extracted from the governorate. Inhabitant of the governorate are demanding that 40% of these revenues be allocated to economic development projects there. These demands had previously discussed in a meeting between a delegation from the “Misiriya” tribe and “Malik Agar” at the Republican Palace last October, and these demands are in line with the provisions of the final Juba Peace Agreement signed in October 2020.
Drivers of tribal conflict
The outbreak of tribal conflicts in West Kordofan and the Blue Nile governorates are related to a number of factors, including:
Conflicting claims over land ownership: The main reason for the renewed clashes between Arab and African tribes residing in West Kordofan is conflicting claims over land ownership, which have not been resolved. The disputes center on access to grazing areas and water resources, claimed by both farmers and herders, which recur at the beginning of the rainy season in July until September of each year, and is exacerbated by the decreasing size of the resources available. Each party accuses the other of encroaching on their areas, which led to the recent clashes between the Misseriya and Nuba tribes. It was also the reason behind the outbreak of larger armed clashes between the Misseriya and Al-Hamr tribes in the same state last September, which resulted in the deaths of 5 people and the injury of 13 others. Similar clashes broke out in July 2021 over the ownership of agricultural land. Armed clashes also broke out in the Blue Nile State as well due to the struggle of the Hausa and Hamaj tribes over limited, if not scarce, natural resources, and the dispute over the ownership of agricultural lands. The same reason caused armed clashes between the Hausa tribe and the Fung tribes during the last three months from July to September, killing 105 people, injuring dozens, and displacing 31,000 people from their homes.
Lack of developmental efforts: These conflicts are mainly due to limited resources in conjunction with the absence of economic development projects, and a failure to implement the provisions of the final Juba Peace Agreement. The agreement included solutions for providing financial support to achieve economic development in the governorates that are far from the central authority of the capital. These governorates have suffered from high rates of poverty, unemployment, and deteriorating living conditions, including the governorates of Darfur (North – West – South), Kordofan (North – South – West), and the Blue Nile. Despite their riches in natural resources, such as oil and minerals, the proceeds from these resources have not been allocated to local development projects.
Rising hate speech: In West Kordofan state, for example, there have been claims and counter claims among the tribes as to who are the original inhabitants of the region, and who therefore have the overriding right to land ownership and water resources. This has led to increasingly violent hate-speech, which repeatedly escalates into armed clashes, using light and sometimes heavy weaponry. In the West Kordofan governorate, the Misseriya tribes claim to be the original inhabitants, that have the right to own land, grazing, and water resources. In the governorate of the Blue Nile, custom dictates that the Hausa tribes, who came to the region after the Alberti tribe, are not entitled to own agricultural lands. The latter object to this idea and have entered into confrontations with other tribes in order to assert their right to own the land on which they reside.
Instability at the center: The ongoing political crisis in Khartoum has led to decreasing trust of the central authority on the local level in the governorates, and consequently a lack of adherence to the peace agreements that were signed under the auspices of the transitional authorities. Neither the military nor the political forces have been able to develop a plan to end the crisis, and consequently there have been no repercussions for those not abiding by the terms of the peace agreements. New regional demands have been raised, including the demarcation of borders between the tribes, such as the demands raised by the Misseriya and Hamar tribes in West Kordofan to demarcate the borders between them. This reflects the rising affiliation to the tribal structure, and a weakening affiliation to the central state.
Incitement by armed movements: There have been claims that the SPLM-North Sector, the Malik Agar wing, has been inciting tribes to engage in such armed clashes. Some leaders of the Misseriya tribe have accused the movement of inciting the fighting that the region is witnessing. They have accused it of violating the ceasefire agreement and spreading hate on social media. This has prompted Aqar to deny these accusations, based on the fact that the Laqawa area in which the clashes took place is not under the control of this movement, and that they have declared their commitment to the ceasefire agreement.
Availability of arms: Weapons have become widely available to the tribes, either seized from Sudanese army camps during the confrontations with the armed movements under the al-Bashir regime, or through smuggling across the borders with Chad and Libya. Successive governments have failed to collect weapons from the hands of tribesmen, thereby increasing the possibility of renewed conflict within these governorates.
In conclusion, tribal clashes in some Sudanese governorates are likely to recur as long as their drivers remain in existence, and the central authority remains unable to assert control. Government efforts to address the causes behind these clashes have so far been ineffective, and it has been unable to implement the terms stipulated in the peace accord. The continuing political crisis in Khartoum makes it unlikely that this will change soon. It is moreover likely that the scope of these recurring clashes may expand in the near future, thereby increasing political instability and general lack of security in the country as a whole.