More than 130 people have been killed in the latest outbreak of tribal fighting in western Sudan's Darfur region, a tribal leader said on Friday.

"Fighting was going on until last night and from our side we have 37 dead," said the leader of the Beni Halba tribe, who claimed that more than 100 members of the rival Gimir group were also killed.

A Gimir official could not immediately be reached.

The Beni Halba leader, who declined to be named, said a land dispute caused the fighting in Edd al-Fursan, about 100 kilometres (60 miles) southwest of the South Darfur state capital Nyala.

"This is our land and those people are living on it," he said.

Competition for resources, from water to gold, is a key driver of conflict in Darfur, where ethnic rebels in Sudan's far-western region rose up against the Arab-dominated Khartoum government in 2003.

While the worst of the violence has long passed, rebel-government battles continue along with tribal disputes, inter-Arab fighting, kidnappings, carjackings and other crimes. (AFP)