Khartoum, Dec 27: Clashes between Sudanese anti-riot police and protesters in demonstrations against a rise in bread prices have killed 19 people, including two security force personnel, the government said Thursday.

"Nineteen people lost their lives in the incidents including two from security forces," government spokesman Boshara Juma said on state television, adding that 219 people were wounded.

Sudanese authorities had previously said that eight people have been killed in clashes in Khartoum and several other cities since the protests began on December 19. </s> (AFRICAN EXAMINER) – The death toll from protests over price hikes in Sudan has risen to nine, an opposition party spokesman said on Friday, amid a state of emergency in two regions.

Eastern al-Gadarif state and northern Atbara state are both under emergency rule since protests over rising bread and fuel prices broke out on Wednesday.

“Six people were killed in al-Gadarif and three others were killed in Atbara,” Mohamed Zaki from the Umma party, said.

He alleged that some died after being arrested and others were shot at the protests.

On Thursday, Mubarak al-Nur, a member of parliament, said two students had been killed.

Sudanese Minister for Information, Osman Bilal acknowledged that the police had used teargas to break up the protests, but while he had heard reports of deaths, he could not give a toll.

“The protests went violence and protesters are destroying civilians properties,” Bilal said, in defence of the government crackdown, adding, however, that they were investigating reports of deaths.

There were protests in January over the same issue, with police using teargas to disperse hundreds of protesters in the capital Khartoum, and similar protests were held in Sudan in late 2016 after the government

 cut fuel subsidies.

The oil-rich country’s economy was negatively affected when it was split to form South Sudan in 2011.

The government of President Omar al-Bashir is also battling several rebel groups.(/NAN) </s> A student demonstrator was killed Thursday in eastern Sudan, a local official and relatives told AFP, amid mounting protests over the rising price of bread.

"The situation in Al-Qadarif is out of control and the student Moayed Ahmad Mahmoud was killed," said Mubarak al-Nur, a lawmaker in the city 550 kilometres (340 miles) from the capital Khartoum.

Mahmoud was a university student, he said.

Nur called on authorities "not to use force against demonstrators, who are asked to peacefully exercise their right" to protest.

A government decision to raise the price of bread this week from one Sudanese pound to three (from about two to six US cents) sparked protests across the country on Wednesday.

Angry protesters on Thursday set fire to the headquarters of President Omar al-Bashir's National Congress Party (NCP) in two locations, witnesses said.

Demonstrators in Al-Qadarif "threw stones at banks (in the city centre) and smashed cars," resident Tayeb Omar Bashir told AFP by phone.

They then "moved to the ruling party headquarters near the market it torched it completely", he added.

Demonstrators then moved towards the police station where they called for "freedom" and chanted "the people want the fall of the regime".

Protests in Dongola, 500 kilometres north of Khartoum, "started with university students who were joined by others when they reached the city centre", an eyewitness told AFP by phone.

"They attacked the headquarters of the NCP and set it ablaze," the witness said.

In the city of Atbara, around 400 kilometres east of Khartoum, police fired tear gas to disperse protesters just hours after authorities imposed a curfew on the city because demonstrators had torched its NCP headquarters.

"Some 1,500 demonstrators tried to enter the city of Atbara from (a suburb) calling for the fall of the regime," an eyewitness said.

"Riot police intercepted them and fired tear gas at them," the witness added.

The bread shortage has hit Sudan's cities for the past three weeks, including the capital.

In the past year, the cost of some commodities has more than doubled in Sudan, where inflation is running at close to 70 percent and the pound has plunged in value.

Sporadic protests broke out in January this year over the rising cost of food, but they were soon brought under control with the arrest of opposition leaders and activists.

Sudan had significant oil reserves until South Sudan gained independence in 2011, and the north-south split saw the country lose three quarters of its reserves. </s> At least 27 people have been killed in protests in Khartoum over fuel subsidy cuts as another bout of the worst unrest seen in Sudan's relatively well-off central regions for years broke out in its biggest port, September 25, 2013. — Reuters picKHARTOUM, Jan 19 — Journalists working for Agence France-Presse and Reuters were among three reporters being held by Sudanese authorities yesterday a day after they were arrested covering demonstrations against rising food prices that were dispersed by police.

Abdelmoneim Abu Idris Ali, a 51-year-old who has worked for AFP in Khartoum for nearly a decade, was covering the protests on Wednesday in the Sudanese capital’s twin city of Omdurman, where riot police fired tear gas on some 200 protesters.

Idris Ali was unreachable after the protest and authorities informed AFP yesterday that he had been arrested along with two other journalists, including one working for Reuters, and was being held at a detention centre run by Sudan’s National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS).

Authorities initially said Idris Ali would be released within hours but as of late last night, more than 24 hours after he was detained, he was still being held.

Authorities said the three journalists “are being investigated” but provided no further details.

“AFP management strongly condemns the arrest of Mr Idris Ali and asks Sudanese authorities for his immediate release,” the agency said.

Reuters did not name their detained reporter who they said was a stringer — a term used to describe people who work for media outlets part time or on short term assignments when news breaks.

The agency said they had last heard from their reporter just before they left to cover the protests.

“We do not know the circumstances of the detention and are actively seeking additional information about the situation,” a Reuters spokesperson said in their dispatch on the arrests.

Several protesters were also reported to have been detained at the demonstration.

Sporadic protests have erupted across Sudan after prices of food items, but mainly bread, surged following a jump in the cost of flour due to a shortage of wheat supplies.

Wednesday’s rally was called by the main opposition Umma Party, a day after a similar demonstration was held near the presidential palace in Khartoum following a call issued by the Communist Party. Tuesday’s protest was also broken up by police.

Similar protests were held in late 2016 after the government cut fuel subsidies.

The authorities cracked down on those protests to prevent a repeat of deadly unrest that followed an earlier round of subsidy cuts in 2013.

Rights groups said dozens of people were killed when security forces crushed the 2013 demonstrations, drawing international condemnation.

Critics have repeatedly accused President Omar al-Bashir’s regime of cracking down on the media in Sudan, with watchdog Reporters Without Borders ranking the country 174th out of 180 countries in its 2017 World Press Freedom Index. — AFP </s> Hundreds of Sudanese took to the streets of three cities Wednesday to protest against the rising price of bread, with demonstrators setting fire to a ruling party headquarters, witnesses said.

Against a backdrop of growing economic woes in the country, demonstrations were staged in Port Sudan, Atbra and Nhoud, witnesses told AFP on the phone from the three cities.

The protests were sparked by the government's decision to raise the price of bread from one Sudanese pound to three (from about two to six US cents).

Witnesses were unable to say whether or not there had been any injuries or arrests during the demonstrations.

In Atbra, around 400 kilometres (250 miles) east of Khartoum, angry protesters set fire to the headquarters of the National Congress Party of President Omar al-Bashir, said resident Ahmad Mohammed Hussein.

The authorities responded by announcing they had imposed a curfew in Atbra from 6:00 pm to 6:00 am.

"The protest began with the arrival of students in the city centre who were joined by residents," said resident Mubarak Abdelrahim.

The police "tried to disperse them with truncheons but they continued to demonstrate by setting fire to tyres," he added.

In Port Sudan, around 500 people, most of them students, marched in the streets chanting against the high cost of living, said Hussein Idriss, a resident in the Red Sea port city.

Shops had closed after the authorities decided to hike the price of bread, he added.

Similar demonstrations were held in Nhoud, with students marching and shouting "No to hunger", witnesses in the city said.

The bread shortage has hit Sudan's cities for the past three weeks, including the capital Khartoum.

In the past year, the cost of some commodities has more than doubled in Sudan, where inflation is running at close to 70 percent and the pound has plunged in value.

Sporadic protests broke out in January this year over the rising cost of food, but they were soon brought under control with the arrest of opposition leaders and activists.

Sudan had significant oil reserves until South Sudan gained independence in 2011, and the north-south split saw the country lose three quarters of its reserves. </s> , KHARTOUM, Sudan, Dec 21 – Sudan deployed troops in the capital Khartoum and other cities on Friday, witnesses said, after eight demonstrators were killed in clashes with riot police during protests over increased bread prices.

A government decision to raise the price of a loaf of bread this week from one Sudanese pound to three (from about two to six US cents) has sparked protests across the country.

On Thursday, riot police in Khartoum fired tear gas to disperse demonstrators near the presidential palace, witnesses said.

Six demonstrators were killed in the eastern city of Al-Qadarif and two others in Atbara, also east of Khartoum, officials said on Thursday.

On Friday, the weekly day of rest, calm returned to the capital and the cities that were rocked by the deadly protests, witnesses reported.

In Khartoum, traffic was backed to normal but police patrolled some of the streets while in the north of the capital soldiers deployed around petrol stations and banks.

The police driving in patrol cars were seen carrying clubs and tear gas canisters while the troops held Kalashnikov assault rifles, the witnesses said.

An AFP reporter said lines formed outside bakeries in north Khartoum as residents waited to buy bread.

Residents in Al-Qadarif and Atbara also reported that security forces had deployed to secure government buildings and banks.

“Today the city is calm and most of the shops in the main market have reopened,” Mohammed Sharif Omar said in a telephone interview from Al-Qadarif.

But he said that army vehicles were stationed outside banks and government buildings.

On Thursday angry protesters torched the headquarters of President Omar al-Bashir’s National Congress Party in Atbara and set fire to NCP offices in two other locations.

And in Al-Qadarif, demonstrators threw stones at banks and smashed cars before torching the NCP headquarters in the city, according to a resident.

Sudan has been facing a mounting economic crisis over the past year.

The cost of some commodities has more than doubled, inflation is running at close to 70 percent and the pound has plunged in value.

The cost of bread has also risen and shortages have been reported for the past three weeks across several cities, including Khartoum.

Protests broke out in January over the rising cost of food, but they were soon brought under control with the arrest of opposition leaders and activists. </s> KHARTOUM: More than 800 protesters have been arrested from hundreds of anti-government demonstrations held across Sudan since last month, the interior minister said Monday. "The total number of protesters arrested until now is 816," Ahmed Bilal Osman told parliament. The figure was the first given by officials for those detained since deadly rallies erupted on December 19 after the government hiked bread prices. Authorities say at least 19 people including two security personnel have been killed in clashes during the demonstrations, but rights group Amnesty International has put the death toll at 37. </s> More than 800 protesters have been arrested from hundreds of anti-government demonstrations held across Sudan since last month, the interior minister said Monday.

"The total number of protesters arrested until now is 816," Ahmed Bilal Osman told parliament.

The figure was the first given by officials for those detained since deadly rallies erupted on December 19 after the government hiked bread prices.

Authorities say at least 19 people including two security personnel have been killed in clashes during the demonstrations, but rights group Amnesty International has put the death toll at 37.

Osman told lawmakers there had been a total of 381 protests reported since December 19.

He said that 118 buildings were destroyed in the protests, including 18 that belonged to police, while 194 vehicles were set on fire including 15 that belonged to international organisations.

"The demonstrations began peacefully, but some thugs with a hidden agenda used them to indulge in looting and stealing," the minister said, adding that the situation across Sudan was now "calm and stable". </s> (Bloomberg) -- The death toll from a week of demonstrations against rising inflation and food shortages in Sudan rose to more than 37 people, Sudanese doctors said.

“The number is higher than 37 as new protesters have been killed,” the Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors said in a statement.

Amnesty International said Dec. 24 it had credible reports that 37 protesters had been shot dead by security forces in the first five days of anti-government demonstrations that have rocked the north African nation. Police used live bullets and tear gas Tuesday to break up a rally in Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, demanding that President Umar al-Bashir step down after almost 30 years in power.

The doctors group said it was tallying the number of people killed in the protests. Last week, the government said at least eight people had been killed and hasn’t made any further comment on the death toll.

To contact the reporter on this story: Mohammed Alamin in Nairobi at malamin1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Paul Richardson at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net, Eric Ombok, Shaji Mathew
Protests break out across Sudan over rising prices of bread and fuel, resulting in at least eight deaths.