Eastern Sudan’s Kassala issues emergency order

The government of Kassala state issued an emergency order yesterday prohibiting public gatherings, road blocks, and spreading “harmful pictures and rumours”.

Violating the order will carry up to five years of imprisonment, a fine of SDG50,000*, and confiscation of the devices which were used during the offence. The order also prohibits carrying firearms or edged weapons, sabotaging public and private property, and impeding the movement of citizens, vehicles and animals.

The emergency order was issued by the Secretary-General of the Kassala government.

The Red Sea state governor issued a similar order on Sunday, which activists consider a restriction of the freedom of assembly and expression.

Red Sea state remained calm on Monday and Tuesday, following five days of clashes between eastern Sudanese clans, which left 11 dead and 52 wounded.

The violence in Kassala and Red Sea state started when the Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok dismissed the governor of Kassala, Saleh Ammar, on October 13.

The Public Prosecutor of Kassala, El Daw Mohamed, announced that suspects have been arrested and questioned about the violence in Kassala city on October 15. The clashes resulted in the death of seven people, 24 were wounded. A member of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) was killed as well. Nine policemen, six members of the armed forces and one RSF member were wounded.

The prosecutor appealed to the people in eastern Sudanese not to resort to violence and peacefully express their opinions.

* As effective foreign exchange rates can vary in Sudan, Radio Dabanga bases all SDG currency conversions on the daily middle US Dollar rate quoted by the Central Bank of Sudan (CBoS). USD 1 = SDG 55 at the time of posting. On the parallel market in Khartoum, the greenback sold for around SDG250 in early October.

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