TWO weeks of intense clashes in southern Sudan have killed over 61 people, including nine children, according to a local medical group.

The fighting is part of the civil war that has gripped the African country since April 2023.

On Wednesday, the Sudan Doctors Network, which monitors casualty tolls in the conflict, said that the fighting had erupted earlier this month between forces linked to the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) militia group and the Otoro tribe in the South Kordofan town of Kauda.

SPLM-N leader Abdel Aziz al-Hilu has aligned his fighters with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which is fighting the Sudanese military.

Sudan’s war, now in its fourth year, has left the military in control of the north, east and central regions, including the country’s Red Sea ports and its oil refineries and pipelines. 

The paramilitary RSF and its allies control the western Darfur region and parts of the Kordofan region along the border with South Sudan, both rich in oil fields and gold mines.

The SPLM-N is a breakaway faction of the SPLM, the ruling party of neighbouring South Sudan, while the Otoro tribe is a minority group in the Nuba mountains of South Kordofan.

The war has killed at least 59,000 people, displaced some 13 million, and pushed many parts of the country into famine. More than 30 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance.

Sudan Doctors Network spokesman Mohamed Elsheikh said poor communication has made it difficult to verify the full toll, which is probably rising as the clashes continue.

The group also warned that areas around Kauda have seen “systematic burning” and attacks on civilians, with no safe corridors for evacuating the wounded or delivering aid.

The SPLM-N did not immediately respond to requests for comments.