Protests over bread, transport, and excessive violence by authorities continue in Sudan

Protests continued for a second day in a row in El Gedaref on Thursday, accompanied by acts of violence, vandalism, and looting. Protests over bread, transport, and excessive force by authorities during demonstrations continued in Nyala and Khartoum.

The protesters stormed a rural municipality office in El Gedaref, burning two vehicles and a motorcycle and also targeted a number of houses and shops. These protests have meant that the market has remained closed.

Dozens of protesters looted market shops while the police withdrew from the vicinity. Activist Jaafar Khidir told Radio Dabanga that there was a complete absence of any police presence at the market.

The leader of the protests, Motaz Mohamed, was detained by the police after accusing the police of being responsible for the chaos in El Gedaref market, said Khidir.

The activist accused the former regime of Al Bashir of being involved in what he described as a “conspiracy”.

An official spokesman for the state government, Abdelwahab Awad, condemned the sluggishness of the state security forces in a press statement. He explained that “the demonstrations were paid for by the former regime” and exploited by those who opposed the rise in transportation tariffs.

The situation is now calm but a “resumption of the demonstrations is expected” if the police forces remain lenient with the demonstrators, he said.

Student protests

On Thursday, in Nyala, student demonstrations protested for a fourth consecutive day against rising bread and transportation prices. The demonstrators marched towards the General Secretariat of the state government.

The wali (governor) of South Darfur, Mousa Mahdi, pledged to the students protesting in front of the Government Secretariat building that he would begin solving the issues raised next week.

Mousa Mahdi also pointed out that the law guarantees the right to peaceful protest, rather than demonstrations that sabotage, loot, or include any ‘disgraceful behaviour’. He accused parties he did not name of being behind these demonstrations.

Excessive force

In Khartoum, the organization of December Revolution Martyrs’ Families organised a protest in front of the Council of Ministers. The protestors demanded that the state pays medical expenses and provides social support to all those injured during protests in Sudan, in addition to an ambulance present at protests to transport the injured. The organisation also stressed the prevention of the use of excessive violence, sound bombs, and tear gas to disperse protesters.

The Resistance Committees of Nyala also condemned the use of excessive violence by the police during a recent demonstration, calling on the police director to stop arresting the demonstrators.

Attacks

As previously reported by Radio Dabanga, more than 200 people were killed and 240 injured as a result of attacks on El Geneina, capital of West Darfur, and El Tawil village this week in South Darfur, according to Sudan’s Ministry of Health and Sudan’s Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC). In the attack on El Tawil village by Rizeigat gunmen, 56 people were killed and 42 were injured.

Reportedly about 100,000 people were displaced when large groups of gunmen attacked a number of districts of El Geneina and the neighbouring two Kerending camps for displaced people on Saturday and Sunday. 60,000 of them sought refuge in schools and government buildings in central El Geneina, while 40,000 others fled to neighbouring villages. 1,500 families have recently arrived in Tawila locality in North Darfur.