Tribal fighting claims lives of 40 and thousands displaced in Darfur

TRIBAL fighting killed more than 40 people and displaced thousands of civilians, mostly women and children, in the state of South Darfur in Sudan this month, aid workers and a rights group said.

In North Darfur, rebels said that government forces clashed with a faction of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) a day earlier. The Sudanese military could not confirm the incident but said it has forces in the area.

The fighting in South Darfur broke out early in October between the Arab Maaliya tribe and the African Zaghawa over cattle and other livestock around the town of Muhajiriya, an international aid source said on Saturday. Analysts say the Zaghawa and Maaliya tribes are in dispute over land ownership rights in areas that include Muhajiriya.