Lethal clashes and attacks in Sudan states

Three people, including a policeman, were killed and others were wounded in clashes in the area of Heglig, White Nile state, on Saturday evening after police seized a large number of livestock. Protestors blocked the Kosti-Khartoum highway on Sunday to protest against the events, resulting in a build-up of traffic.

Mousa Hamed, head of the White Nile state security committee in the state capital Rabak said in a press statement that one of the seriously injured is currently receiving treatment in Khartoum. He explained that the cause of the violence were protests after the police seized a large number of livestock. Policeman Abdallah Sheikh is known to have died. Callers told Radio Dabanga that the sounds of gunfire continued on into Sunday, but the details remain unclear at time of posting.

In South Kordofan, one person was killed and about 12 others were injured in an attack in El Abbasiya town on Sunday. Witnesses fold Radio Dabanga that a group had stolen a rickshaw and demanded a payment of SDG 100,000 in exchange. The witnesses said that the owner paid the amount and recovered his rickshaw, but another attempt was made by the same group to retake the rickshaw which prompted him to seek help from the residents of the neighbourhood.

In eastern Sudan, an Ethiopian gang kidnapped four children from Basanda, El Gedaref, five days ago. Callers from El Gedaref told Radio Dabanga that the Ethiopian gangs kidnapped the children from the Atarib area on Wednesday, and demanded the families they pay a ransom of SDG 3 million. They also said that the families have so far not been able to pay the ransom.