Protests over increasing levels of prices for bread in Sudan have turned violent resulting in the death of a student on Sunday.
There were violent protests in war-torn Darfur and Blue Nile states as well as Sudan’s capital Khartoum with protesters burning tyres and blocking roads.
Police had to fire tear gas when they clashed with demonstrators on Sunday as fears heighten that prices of bread could increase further this week as a result of price hikes by flour manufacturers.
Wheat supplies have gone low following government’s decision to stop importation of grain. AFP reported that bread prices soared after the cost of flour surged to 450 Sudanese pounds ($25) for a 50kg sack from 167 pounds.
Hundreds of students and residents who staged rallies in the towns of Geneina and Nyala in Darfur and Damazin in Blue Nile were met by anti-riot police who fired tear gas at them, an eye witness told the AFP.
Governor of West Darfur of which Geneina is the capital, Fadalelmola Al-Haja said in a statement that “In the incidents that occurred in Geneina, one student was killed and six other people were wounded.”
Civil agitations over social issues are usually cracked down on by Sudan’s government with dozens killed in 2013 when security forces crushed large street demonstrations over subsidy cuts.
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Source: Africafeeds.com
