Shawdesh desk:

Clashes between Arab and non-Arab groups in Sudan’s Darfur region have left at least 24 people dead, dozens of homes burned, and thousands displaced, an official said on Wednesday.

The latest violence in Sudan’s westernmost region near Chad erupted between members of Arab tribes and the Masalit non-Arab group in the town of Foro Baranga, about 185 kilometres (115 miles) from Geneina the capital of West Darfur state.

“The death toll has reached around 24 people on both sides,” according to Mohammed Hussein Teeman, of the Foro Baranga community council. He said the fighting broke out Saturday.

The violence prompted Sudanese authorities to declare a night curfew and a month-long state of emergency across West Darfur.

Security forces have been dispatched over the past days and the situation had calmed by Wednesday, he said.

About 50 homes were burned in the Foro Baranga area, “leading to the displacement of an estimated 4,000 families (about 20,000 people),” according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).