At least 16 people were killed and several others injured as renewed fighting between the Salamat and Bani Halba communities spread around Kabm in South Darfur, according to tribal leaders cited by Darfur24. Dozens of people were displaced despite mediation and an intervention intended to stop the violence.
The toll was reported on May 31, 2026, when the latest clashes had entered a second day. Al-Maqdum Adel Ibrahim Seneen, a leader in South Darfur’s Native Administration, said the unrest had begun on May 23 after an armed group burned grazing land near Kabm. Tensions increased after gunmen suspected of belonging to one of the rival communities killed a shepherd in the Jurf area.
Seneen said armed men later attacked people who were watering livestock at a local water source on Saturday. Three people were killed and three others from the two sides were injured there, according to his account.
Traditional leaders formed a committee to arrange the handover of bodies in the Artala area, but Seneen said the committee was attacked and had to withdraw. The transfer process then broke down. When fighting resumed later that day, 12 more people were killed and others were wounded, he said.
Displacement around Kabm
A second tribal leader, who was not named because of security concerns, told Darfur24 that both communities had positioned dozens of heavily armed vehicles around Kabm. The source said an armed group attacked Damba on Sunday, prompting residents to flee toward Ad-Daein, approximately 86 kilometers west of Nyala.
That leader said at least 12 people had already died before the violence escalated again on Sunday. A force affiliated with the Rapid Support Forces, working with Native Administration representatives from both communities, stopped the fighting after several hours, according to the source. A definitive casualty total had not been confirmed.
Volunteers assisting uprooted families said people escaped from Kabm, Markandi, Al-Shuwaib, Damba and nearby localities as the fighting expanded. One volunteer said women, children and older people made up most of those displaced and were confronting severe humanitarian conditions during extreme heat.
The violence revived a conflict that had caused hundreds of deaths and injuries in August 2023, as well as village destruction and large-scale displacement. Subsequent peace conferences in Kass and Mukjar were held under the auspices of Rapid Support Forces Deputy Commander Abdul Rahim Hamdan Dagalo.
Those reconciliation efforts led to a final peace agreement announced by the two communities the previous December after compensation payments. The process also had support from Rapid Support Forces commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti.
The new fatalities and mobilization around Kabm placed that agreement under renewed strain. While local leaders and an RSF-affiliated force were reported to have halted the immediate fighting, residents had already left multiple communities, and the final scale of casualties remained unsettled in the accounts available at the time.
