SUDAN’S police have released a statement saying clashes between two tribes in an eastern port city have killed 17 people in three days.

The violence led Sudan’s new joint military-civilian council — formed just last week — to declare a state of emergency in Port Sudan on Sunday, and troops have been deployed in the city.

The council also sacked the provincial governor and its top security official.

“The Sovereign Council announced relieving the Red Sea State governor along with the state’s chief of security service, reactivating the declared state of emergency in the state and ordering investigation in the bloody events,” said the council in a statement.

The clashes in the Red Sea province erupted earlier last week between the Bani Amer tribe and the displaced Nuba tribe, and have wounded more than 100 others.

An activist, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal, said the dispute started in May in the eastern city of al-Qadarif, where seven people were killed.(SD-Xinhua)