By Alaa Shahine KHARTOUM, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Tribal fighting has killed more than 40 people and displaced thousands of civilians, mostly women and children, in Sudan's troubled region of Darfur this month, aid workers and a rights group said. The latest fighting broke out in southern Darfur 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. "Fifty-one men from both sides were killed," the source told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity. The U.S.-based Human Rights Watch said on Friday night more than 40 "civilians" were killed in the fighting. The violence in Darfur threatens to derail efforts to end the conflict which international experts estimate has claimed the lives of 200,000 people and forced 2.5 millions to flee their homes since 2003. Khartoum puts the death toll at 10,000. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said it provided sleeping mats, clothes and tarpaulins last week to more than 4,000 people "displaced by communal clashes" in the region. "People were left without the bare necessities," said Juan Carlos Carrera, the head of the ICRC sub-delegation in Nyala, the capital of the South Darfur state. The majority of the displaced sought shelter under trees and on a nearby seasonal river where water was readily available but their living conditions could "quickly deteriorate" with winter approaching, the ICRC statement added. Analysts who follow Darfur say the Zaghawa tribe has settled in areas including Muhajiriya and demanded ownership of land, ignoring the rights of historical owners who include Maaliya. The conflict in Darfur that started with an uprising of mainly non-Arab rebels against the government has turned into a free-for-all crisis, with insurgents, bandits, government forces and tribes vying for everything from power to cattle and land. The Human Rights Watch said the fighting in the Muhajiriya area involved Arab militia backed by government forces. "Once again, civilians are bearing the brunt of fighting in Darfur," Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human Rights Watch said in a statement. The group said the militia attacked more than 13 villages between Oct. 5 and 17, burning homes and stealing livestock. Officials from South Darfur Governor Ali Mahmoud's office were not immediately available to comment. But a spokesman for the Sudanese military denied on Saturday that government forces were involved. He said the fighting was between the Maaliya tribe and a faction of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) rebel group. Two aid sources confirmed the fighting was tribal and that government troops were not present. At the time of the fighting, a rebel leader said pro-government Arab militias ambushed fighters from an SLA faction and the United Resistance Front east of Muhajiriya. In October 2007, at least 30 civilians were killed and 100 houses torched when militias with apparent army support attacked Muhajiriya, a U.N. report says. Khartoum denied any involvement. (Writing by Alaa Shahine; Editing by Sami Aboudi)
A child lies on a flooded road as residents walk past after torrential rain in the Ja-Ela suburb of Colombo October 24, 2008. At least six districts in Sri Lanka have ...
