Thirteen people were killed and 12 others are reported missing following fierce fighting between two rival factions of the rebel Sudanese Liberation Movement-Nur (SLM-Nur) group in Central Darfur state, western Sudan, the UN has said.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the UN humanitarian agency (OCHA) in Sudan said the clashes started on 19 November in the Umu and Arshin areas of Shamal Jebel Marra locality.
Six people were abducted and four others wounded, privately-owned Al-Intibaha news site reported.
The fighting later spread to the villages of Daya, Wara, and Kia, in the same locality, with an estimated 5,600 people reportedly fleeing their homes and moving to idisplaced people’s camps, OCHA said.
The situation remains tense as there are reports that both parties are mobilising their forces for fresh attacks, according to the UN.
In October, similar clashes between the two groups left at least 13 people killed and 15 others wounded.
SLM-Nur is one of the few rebel groups that did not sign the 2020 Juba peace agreement, which the government signed with former rebel groups in Darfur and southern regions.
There has been division within SLM-Nur in recent months, as some factions have defected.
The M23 rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo have said they will not retreat from their positions after regional leaders set a 18:00 Friday local time deadline for them to cease fire and retreat or face a regional force.
Canisius Munyarugerero has told the BBC Great Lakes that the group is ignoring Wednesday’s decisions in the Angolan capital, Luanda, because “we were not invited to that meeting” to discuss the DR Congo conflict.
Leaders from DR Congo, Burundi, Rwanda, and the former Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta – who’s a mediator to the conflict – had convened in Luanda in the meeting hosted by the Angolan president.
“We M23 are not Burundians, we are not Rwandans, we are not Kenyans, not even Angolans. We are Congolese, and we are home, they are telling us to withdraw to where?” Mr Munyarugerero posed.
The M23 now occupies a big area in North Kivu province and is threatening to capture Goma, the main city in eastern Congo.
Before the war began afresh, they held positions at Sabinyo Volcano near the border with Rwanda.
The Luanda meeting decided that if M23 did not abide by the deadline, regional forces being deployed to the eastern DR Congo would enforce it.
Asked if they were ready to face a regional force, Mr Munyarugerero said: “Just know that we won’t retreat.”
