Darfur gold battle: Tens of thousands of Sudanese flee Published duration 1 February 2013

image caption Two rival Arab groups are said to be fighting over a gold mine

Some 100,000 people have fled fighting over a gold mine in Sudan's Darfur region, the UN has said.

It said many were living in the open in appalling conditions, while others had fled to a nearby town where offices and schools had shut to accommodate them.

It has sent 600 tonnes of food aid and blankets to the town of al-Sireaf.

More than a million people have been living in camps for the displaced in Darfur, after almost a decade of fighting.

Violence in Darfur has come down from its peak after civil war broke out in 2003 but there are still clashes between government forces, rebels, bandits and rival ethnic groups.

The current fighting is said to be between two Arab communities, who are in a dispute over gold deposits in the north of the region.