Sudan's transitional government says it will send more troops into the troubled Darfur region after unidentified gunmen killed 60 people on Saturday and another 20 the day before, broadcaster BBC reported on Monday. 

It quoted Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok as saying the deployment of the troops to Darfur was aimed at protecting citizens and farming activity.

The area has been engulfed in a deadly conflict since 2003, when ethnic minority black tribes took up arms against the forces of then-longtime ruler Omar al-Bashir, accusing his government of marginalising the region, according to broadcaster Al Jazeera.

Violence in Darfur has eased since Bashir’s ouster by the army amid mass protests against his rule last year, and a preliminary peace deal was signed in January between the government and a coalition of nine rebel groups.

Farmers displaced in the conflict have since started to return to their land under a government-sponsored deal reached two months ago, in time for the July-November planting season, Arab News reported.

On Sunday Hamdok said he had met a delegation of coordinators from the Darfur Women Forum in the presence of the ministers of cabinet affairs and labour and social development. 

The delegation gave a detailed explanation about their vision of the security situation in Darfur, especially relating to the plight of women in the region, and the need to secure the agricultural season.

Hamdok added that the most valuable role of the forum was in raising urgent issues, especially those of women who remained the most affected by conflict in Sudan.

“I will always be keen on listening to the voice of Sudanese women in all of their theses, issues and demands, and strive to achieve them to the fullest extent that the possibilities of the transitional period allow," he said.