The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says tribal conflicts and insurgency have displaced at least 460,000 people in Sudan's Darfur this year.
"According to humanitarian organizations, so far in 2013 at least 460,000 people have fled their homes in Darfur as a result of inter-tribal fighting and clashes between the SAF (the Sudanese army) and armed movements," OCHA stated on Thursday.
andnbsp;"This is more than the number of people internally displaced in Darfur in 2011 and 2012 combined," the world body said in its weekly bulletin.
andnbsp;The latest figure marks a jump from the 300,000 who the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Valerie Amos, announced in May had been displaced during the first five months of the year.
andnbsp;Sudanese Defense Minister Abdelrahim Mohammed Hussein said on Tuesday tribal violence in Darfur has eclipsed rebel activity as the main security threat in the region.
andnbsp;On Monday, African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur, known as UNAMID, expressed ‘grave concern’ over recent reports of violence among Misseriya, Taisha, and Salamat tribes in parts of Central Darfur State.
andnbsp;Sudan accuses South Sudan, which seceded from the Republic of Sudan in July 2011, of supporting anti-government rebels operating in the Darfur region and the states of Blue Nile and South Kordofan.
andnbsp;South Sudan became independent on July 9, 2011, after decades of conflict with the North.
andnbsp;MRS/AB