Fears about Sudan's Darfur after 130 killed in days of fighting

KHARTOUM: The latest inter-ethnic violence to rock Sudan's restive Darfur left 47 dead on Monday, after 83 died in separate weekend clashes -- and following shortly after a peacekeeping mission ended operations.

With at least 130 people killed in total, the recent violence is some of the worst reported since the signing of a peace agreement in October, which observers hoped would end years of war.

The bloodshed comes just over two weeks since the hybrid United Nations African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) ended operations in their long-running peacekeeping mission.

While former rebel forces have committed to lay down their weapons in the recent political peace deal, decades of conflict have left the vast western region awash with weapons and divided by bitter rivalries.

Key issues include land ownership and access to water.

In South Darfur, fighting broke out early Monday between the powerful Arab Rizeigat tribe and the Fallata, a cattle and camel herding people who trace their roots to the Fulani of western Africa.

"The clashes between the Rizeigat tribe and the Fallata tribe have stopped, and we have now counted 47 deaths," local Fallata leader Mohamed Saleh told AFP.

Saleh said that several homes were torched in the attack.