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CAIRO - Armed men opened fire overnight, trying to storm the residence of a provincial governor in Sudan’s restive Darfur region but were repelled by guards, officials said Wednesday.

There were no injuries or damage in the attempted attack on West Darfur Gov. Mohammed Abdalla al-Douma’s residence in the provincial capital of Genena, but it underscored the heightened tensions in the restive region where a bout of tribal violence has killed around 230 people since last week.

A statement from the governor said the attempted attack sought to create “instability and chaos” in the province. There was no immediate claim of responsibility, and the statement did not say who the attackers were.

A military official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to reporters, said the attackers opened fire on the heavily fortified residence, prompting the guards to return fire. The exchange lasted for over an hour.

The Darfur 24 news outlet reported heavy gunfire in Genena’s neighbourhood of Gamarek where the governor’s residence is located. Earlier this week, officials from the Sudanese capital of Khartoum visited Genena to discuss the tribal clashes with the governor.

The fighting between members of the Arab Rizeigat tribe and the non-Arab Massalit tribe grew out of a fistfight Friday in a Genena camp for displaced people. Some 160 people on both sides, including women and children, have been killed.

Among the dead in West Darfur violence were three aid workers, the U.N. humanitarian co-ordination for Sudan, Babacar Cissé, said Wednesday. He called for an end to the clashes and for those implicated to be held accountable. He did not provide more details.

A U.N. official said two of the three workers were Sudanese nationals, with two working for the Triangle Generation Humanitaire, or TGH, and the third for International Aid Services or IAS.