More student protests in Sudan’s Kassala

Throughout Sudan demonstrations against the government's economic decisions erupt, and most of them are started by university students. In El Gedaref, police dispersed a protest that blocked the roads for hours.

On Thursday morning student protests broke out at El Gedaref University, Kassala state, where students of the Faculty of Islamic Studies blocked off the national road between Kassala and El Gedaref. Travel buses, cargo and regular vehicles were forced to stop for two hours, before the mass was dispersed by police that used tear gas.

A number of students reported to Radio Dabanga that members of the security apparatus detained one of the students and have taken him to an unknown destination.

A student said that Mohammad Amir, who studies at the Faculty of Economics, was detained during the protest on Thursday.

She said that the protest broke out against the backdrop of the assault by policemen on a student of the Faculty of Islamic Studies, named Abdel Musleh Ahmed Mustafa. “He was severely beaten near the faculty and transferred to El Gedaref hospital,” she said.

The recent increases in fuel and electricity prices, after the government liberalised the fuel market, have caused unrest throughout the country. The transportation tariffs started to soar immediately, with a price increase ranging around 50 per cent.

Residents of Kassala told Radio Dabanga this week that the bus fare from El Gedaref to Khartoum has risen from SDG115 ($17.45) to SDG130 ($19.70). The domestic transportation tariff has risen by 50 per cent, according to a merchant.

In greater Khartoum, intensive preparations by the Security Service were made in anticipation of mass protests.