Street protest in Sudan capital against lack of fuel, soaring prices

On Monday, the residents of Burri El Lamab district blocked the main streets in protest against the shortage of fuel, cooking gas, and the rising costs of living. The demonstrators called for a regime-change.

Protester Nureldin Salaheldin told Radio Dabanga that security forces used tear gas and batons to disperse the crowd.

“They severely beat the demonstrators. They took Mohamed Omar Faransawi, Faris Emad and Jihad Mahjoub to a security office where they were beaten until they lost consciousness,” he said. “They were then transferred to the Police Hospital under intensive guard.”

Salaheldin added that they were released “after heavy public pressure” late on Tuesday evening.

The Sudanese Congress Party described the stance of the residents of Burri El Lamab as “heroic”. In a statement, the party said that “there is no way [for Sudan] to uproot oppression, corruption and terrorism without mobilising the people. Time has come to topple the regime and restore liberty, dignity, and the stolen democracy”.

Prices

The price of a cylinder of cooking gas in Khartoum on the black market has risen to SDG120 ($20), while people used to obtain one for SDG25 at the markets two years ago.

The fuel and cooking gas crises have also reached eastern Sudan. A number of fuel stations in the Blue Nile state capital Ed Damazin have closed. In Kassala, the price of a gallon of diesel has risen to SDG60 ($9.80).

In Port Sudan, the bus owners’ association announced that transport tariffs will double in early January. A worried resident told Radio Dabanga that the “more than 50 percent increase will affect the basic commodity prices and exasperate the suffering of the people”.