Police beat, arrest Khartoum residents during house raid

Police and security forces beat and arrested a number of people in Soba district, southeast of Khartoum, on Sunday morning, against the backdrop of the removal of their houses, a resident said. A number of the injured people told Radio Dabanga that a force consisting of heavily armed police and security in five trucks and three vehicles beat them with crutches and electric batons in El Musalas neighbourhood. The force used tear gas to disperse them, and set fire to several houses. “38 people were arrested, including 25 women,” the witnesses said. They added that most of the residents are from Darfur. Ishag Ahmed Mohamed, who sustained a gunshot wound, revealed that dozens of citizens were injured and arrested. “They were subjected to beatings and racial insults with profane language.” He added that the arrested were transported to El Jereif East prison and then to Eilafoun prison. Ahmed Mohamed revealed that an official in the Khartoum land administration visited the neighbourhood two months ago. “He notified us that he would remove our dwellings, but assured us he would compensate the removal with another location. […] However, we were surprised by the police on Sunday morning, who raided and burned our homes.” Hundreds of people in the districts of Rumaila and Alamab in southern Khartoum took to the streets in June to protest against the sale of plots of public land in their areas. File photo: Rumaila district, southern Khartoum, at the time of the protest against the sale of public lands in June (sent to Radio Dabanga by a listener) Related: Multiple protests in Sudan’s capital (2 June 2014)