According to reports from Sudan’s Suna news agency on Tuesday, violent clashes between ethnic Hausa and Nuba groups have claimed the lives of at least 16 people. This has led the governor to declare a curfew in White Nile state, which shares a border with South Sudan.
White Nile state is a vast region that spans from Khartoum all the way to the southern border. So far, it has managed to avoid being drawn into the ongoing conflict between two rival generals who seized power in a coup in 2021. Their power struggle has resulted in the deaths of hundreds of people, primarily in the capital city and the Darfur region.
Conflicts between communities regularly erupt in Sudan over access to water and land, vital for farmers and herders – often from rival ethnic groups – while a large number of weapons are in circulation after decades of civil war.