Umm Dafuq , July 9(Darfur 24)
Sudanese armed men crossed from Umm Dafuq locality in South Darfur State into the Central African Republic, likely to attack the town of Birau, inhabited by the Kara tribe in the border area with Sudan.
The border area suffers from insecurity and has witnessed numerous incidents of violence, most notably last June’s conflict between the Sudanese Ta’aisha tribe and the Kara tribe in the Central African Republic.
Sources told Darfur 24 that “Sudanese gunmen wearing military uniforms and riding approximately 440 motorcycles crossed the border into the Central African Republic three days ago.”
The sources suggested that the armed men were targeting the Kara tribe in the Birao area, after the latter rejected appeals from the local administration in Umm Dafuq.
They indicated that the gunmen were stationed in the eastern and northern regions, dozens of kilometers from Birao.
A local official in Umm Dafuq told Darfur 24 that the gunmen were residents of Umm Dafuq, who had gathered to avenge the killing of three herders in Birao earlier this week by members of the Kara tribe.
He indicated that the local administration is making efforts to return the gunmen to Sudan.
Thousands of Sudanese herders move from the Darfur region in the west of the country to the Central African Republic with their livestock in search of pasture and water, before returning to Sudan during the rainy season.
It is feared that the current tension will negatively impact the approximately 38,000 Sudanese refugees in the Central African Republic, most of whom reside in Birao.