At least five killed in clashes in Sudan's West Kordofan

Clashes between rival groups in Sudan's West Kordofan state have killed at least five people and wounded nine others, the army said Saturday.

Violence erupted a day earlier between members of rival ethnic Nuba and Misseriya people in the town of Lagawa, in the country's far south, an army statement said.

It was not immediately clear what started the fighting.

"Two people were killed and four wounded from the Misseriya, while three others were killed and five wounded from the Nuba," said the statement, also reporting incidents of looting and houses set on fire.

Security forces intervened to contain the violence, evacuate the wounded and secure key facilities, the statement added.

The latest violence comes as Sudan grapples with deepening political unrest and a spiralling economic crisis since last year's military coup, led by army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.

The military power grab upended a transition to civilian rule launched after the 2019 ouster of strongman Omar al-Bashir, who ruled for three decades.

Ethnic clashes often occur in Sudan's far-flung regions over land, livestock, access to water and grazing.

On Thursday, renewed violence between the Hausa people and rival groups in Sudan's Blue Nile state killed at least four people, according to a tribal leader and a medic.

Similar clashes erupted in Blue Nile state in July and again in September, leaving more than 120 people dead.

The July fighting erupted after Hausa members requested the creation of a "civil authority" that rival groups saw as a means of gaining access to land.

Over 370 people were killed and more than 177,000 displaced in inter-communal conflicts in Sudan between January and August, according to the UN.