Sudan: 9 killed, 12 injured following fight over phone battery

Dubai: At least nine people were killed and 12 others injured following a violent fight over a phone battery in Darfur, Sudan, local media reported.

Shooting broke out in Zalingei, state capital of Central Darfur, after a Fur member was killed, sparking wider fighting, witnesses said. The horrific incident has led to uncontrolled violence, looting, and the burning of a market in eastern Zalingei.

The fight began with a dispute over a phone battery, and things quickly escalated to a stabbing with a knife to one of those involved, which led to his death, causing his relatives to attack the family of the killer.

Rizeigat gunmen on motorbikes stormed a camp for displaced people in the city attacking Fur residents, said Adam Regal, spokesman for the General Coordination for Refugees and Displaced in Darfur, a Sudanese independent aid group.

“The regrettable events have claimed the lives of nine people, and wounded others,” Central Darfur state government’s security committee said in a statement.

A market was “completely burnt” in the clashes, it said, adding that the committee had held talks with the two sides in a bid to end fighting.

Security forces have been dispatched to the area, it added.

Ethnic clashes regularly erupt in Darfur, a troubled arid region awash with automatic weapons still reeling from the bitter civil war that erupted in 2003.