Sunut
March 15, 2008 (NSV)

On Friday 14 March, 2008, around 2pm local time, violence erupted at the shops in the center of Sunut market between the Misseriya Baggara, Nuba and Fellata.

Eye witnesses reported to NSV that three gunmen began shooting in the crowds when people were busy buying and selling. Friday is Sunut's market day when nomads and farmers gather to purchase provisions. After the shooting that took place in few minutes, one man identified only as Omer was seriously wounded. He was rescued and put on a passing lorry to Abuzabad. By 6pm he began to receive treatment at Abuzabad hospital.

Back in Sunut, one citizen confirmed to NSV the Baggara started robbing everyone in the market after the incident.

"When all the men entered in the grass-thatched mosque for Friday Prayers, gunmen began shooting from a distant. People fled," he said. The gunmen are believed to have vanished across the lake where there is thick forest and much water to cross.

On Thursday evening some attackers suspected to be Misseriya Militia crossed Sunut Lake under the cover of darkness and shot four men from the Nuba tribe. One man was reported killed by bullets instantly, said a source. The rest were carried away southward by their relatives. "Nobody knows what will happen in the next coming days," said Mohammed Idris from Abuzabad. After Sunut's shooting, some police reserve force moved in the town to calm down the tension between the Baggara and their Nuba neighbors. The constant clashes around Sunut are due to the pastures and water reservoir in the town.

Both the Nuba and the Misseriya-Zuruk are contesting the ownership of the resources there. After CPA, the administration of Sunut locality shifted to Legawa, one of the counties of Southern Kordofan State. With this incident, the areas around Sunut have been rife with violence since the past year.

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