Sudan - October 2022

Between 19 and 20 October, at least 220 people were killed and 7,000 others were displaced in ethnic fighting in the Wad Al Mahi locality of Sudan’s Blue Nile region. The violence represents a big escalation in a conflict between the Hausa and Berta people, which between mid-July and early October killed at least 149. The fighting was ignited by a land dispute, but many analysts regard the growing ethnic violence to be a product of the power vacuum in the region caused by the country’s 2021 military coup. A curfew and a ban on weapons and gatherings was in place in Wad Al Mahi prior to the fighting, and the regional governor has since declared a region-wide 30-day State of Emergency and brought more troops into the area. However, the Resistance Committees, a grassroots pro-democracy group, have blamed the country’s military junta for not doing enough to protect ethnic groups, a sentiment that has been echoed by local protestors.  

Sources: Sudan Tribune, France 24, Al Jazeera (1), Al Jazeera (2)