150 killed in Sudan clan battle

A battle between rival Sudanese clans near an oil-drilling site killed 150 people and wounded 100 more, state-linked media reported on Thursday.

The fighting in West Kordofan state between two sub-groups of the Misseriya tribe "continued all day because of a land dispute near the oil field", said Mohammed Omer Al-Ansari, a tribal leader.

He was quoted by the Sudanese Media Centre, which is close to the security apparatus.

The report did not say on which day the battle occurred, but it comes about one month after the same groups, the Zurug and Awlad Amran clans of the Misseriya, clashed in that area.

A tribal source said in early June that at least 41 people died when the two sides fought with Kalashnikov assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades.

The combat broke out as each group claimed ownership of a plot of land where drilling for oil is under way, a witness to the earlier fighting said.