According to a Sudanese aid organisation, fighting between Arabs and non-Arabs in Sudan’s war-torn Darfur area has killed at least 168 people.
On Sunday, Adam Regal, a spokesman for the General Coordination for Refugees and Displaced Persons in Darfur, claimed that violence in the Kreinik area of West Darfur province had also injured 98 people.
He claimed the skirmishes began on Thursday when an unknown assailant killed two people in Kreinik, some 30 kilometres (18 miles) east of Genena, West Darfur’s provincial seat.
According to Salah Saleh, a doctor and former medical director of Genena’s major hospital, armed groups attacked wounded patients while they were being treated there.
Images posted online on Sunday showed burning houses sending plumes of thick black smoke to the sky, while others showed round patches of scorched earth where huts had stood before they were set alight.
AFP news agency could not independently verify the authenticity of the images.
The International Committee of the Red Cross called on authorities to ensure the safe arrival of the wounded to hospitals.
On Sunday, the aid group accused the government-backed militia known as the Janjaweed of orchestrating the latest attacks.
The mainly Arab armed group gained notoriety in the early 2000s for its role in the repression of an ethnic minority rebellion in Darfur.
Many of its members have since been integrated into the feared paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, commanded by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, de facto deputy leader of Sudan, according to rights groups.
