PortSudan Harbour (©britannica.com)
KHARTOUM - At least six people were killed and more than 50 others were injured after a peaceful protest turned violent in the city of Port Sudan Sunday night, said local residents. Authorities in eastern Sudan, where the area is located, imposed a 5 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew to prevent further violence.
Fighting broke out when young men from the Beni Amir, an ethnic group, clashed with Nuba, another ethnic group, in the Hai Philip neighborhood, according to Port Sudan residents. Port Sudan is the capital of Red Sea state and Sudan’s main port city.
A group of Nuba youths organized the protest Sunday over the recent appointment of Hamid al-Bashir as governor of a nearby state. The trouble started when the group began to march through the neighborhood where the Beni Amir predominantly reside, said Port Sudan resident Ibtisam Mohammed Saleh.
“Some of them were carrying arms and they started shooting and two people died on the spot, including one soldier. The army then came and started firing live bullets randomly, injuring eight people from Beni Amir,” Saleh told VOA’s South Sudan in Focus program.
Red Sea state Governor Abdallah Shangrai Ohaj said at a Sunday evening news conference he authorized security forces to arrest individuals who took part in the fighting.
“Based on directives of the prosecutor in charge, we hereby instruct all security forces to arrest anybody found involved in this violence, open a police case against them and put them in custody,” said Ohaj.
Local journalist Abdurrahman Bakash told South Sudan in Focus Monday the curfew is helping to calm the situation in Port Sudan.
“There is a huge deployment of joint security forces in the town and there were no further clashes reported today. But what we don’t know is if this will continue like this or further escalation of violence would be seen,” said Bakash.
All shopping centers and public and private offices remained closed Monday.
“We could not go to our work today. The situation is tense and we don’t know what is going to happen next,” Bakash told VOA.
More than 30 people were killed in Port Sudan when similar inter-communal clashes broke out between Beni Amir and Nuba communities in September 2019.
Newer articles:
- More than 120 killed in South Sudan ‘scarf’ disagreement - 12/08/2020 03:59
- 'NOT A RANDOM ATTACK': South Sudanese man charged with killing doctor at Alberta clinic in Canada - 11/08/2020 22:22
- Humanitarian Coordinator a.i. in South Sudan condemns attack on NGO convoy in Central Equatoria - 11/08/2020 18:14
- WHO delivers training and infection control in South Sudan - 11/08/2020 09:37
- South Sudan: Govt to Reopen Churches as Covid-19 Cases Increase - 11/08/2020 01:35
Older news items
- 80 Killed in South Sudan Warrap State's Inter-Communal Fighting - 10/08/2020 12:13
- IOM South Sudan: Weekly COVID-19 Situation Report (27 July – 2 August 2020) - 10/08/2020 09:48
- Laxity in COVID-19 preventive measures may further spread virus in South Sudan: official - 10/08/2020 08:38
- Eastern Equatoria Governor visits near-inaccessible areas on UNMISS helicopter, urges communities to embrace peace - 10/08/2020 07:45
- UNHCR Ethiopia: Refugees and asylum seekers from South Sudan in Gambella region | situational update - July 2020 - 10/08/2020 07:41
Latest news items (all categories):
- UAE company agreed to loan $13B to South Sudan in exchange for oil - 27/04/2024 16:44
- South Sudan auditor flags spending of IMF funds - 27/04/2024 16:41
- UN Aid Trucks Held up at South Sudan Border - 27/04/2024 16:37
- South Sudanese comedians find laughs in painful past - 27/04/2024 16:34
- The DRC had the world's biggest military spend increase last year – and South Sudan was second - 27/04/2024 16:29
Random articles (all categories):
- Sudan's RSF deputy leader says US sanctions on him 'unfair' - 08/09/2023 03:36
- South Sudan: South Sudanese Demand Government Return to Peace Talks - 22/08/2014 15:36
- Pope Francis expresses sadness over the murder of two sisters in South Sudan - 18/08/2021 12:55
- SOUTH SUDAN WILL WITHDRAW FROM HEGLIG TO CREATE - Chicago Tribune - 20/04/2012 13:37
- Sudan Thanks Salva Kiir for Patronage of Talks - 25/12/2019 16:00
Popular articles:
- Who is the darkest person in the world, according to Guinness World Record? - 25/10/2022 02:34 - Read 31808 times
- No oil in troubled waters - 25/03/2014 15:02 - Read 21862 times
- School exam results in South Sudan show decline - 01/04/2012 17:58 - Read 20744 times
- NDSU student from South Sudan receives scholarship - In-Forum - 29/09/2012 01:44 - Read 17297 times
- With prisons full, South Sudan to introduce mobile courts to clear backlog of cases - 11/10/2012 11:29 - Read 14214 times