Land sale protesters shot in Khartoum

Two people were seriously injured when police shot at hundreds of residents who demonstrated against the removal of brick factories and the sale of their plots in Khartoum on Wednesday morning.

Residents of El Jiraif East blocked the main road, burned tires, forcing the police to withdraw. Others threw stones at the vehicle of an El Jiraif East member of the legislative council, Moatasem El Facki Yousif, who fled the neighbourhood.

A listener told Radio Dabanga that dozens of protesters suffocated, and some fainted in their houses because the riot police used a large amount of teargas in the residential neighbourhood. 

The listener said that Yousif Subahi El Haj and Siddig El Awad were seriously injured in their legs when the police fired live ammunition at the crowd. They have been taken to the hospital of El Jiraif East.

A protester explained that their demands to the authorities are halting the removal of the factories, the sale of their lands for a residential area scheme, and improving water, health, and education services.

“We will continue our protests until these demands are met,” the protester said. “Residents of El Jiraif East are in an open-ended sit-in, protesting against the sale of their land without the government meeting their demands.”

In June 2014, hundreds of people in the districts of Rumaila and Alamab in southern Khartoum took to the streets to protest against the sale of plots of public land in their areas. Police and security forces beat residents in southeast Khartoum when they refused the removal of their houses in November 2014.

In April 2015, real estate agents in the capital city reported a recession in the land and housing market. A broker told Radio Dabanga that the demand for agricultural plots near the Sudanese capital was growing fast.

Demonstrators set tires on fire during their protest in El Jiraif East on 18 May (Photos: RD)