Sudan closes Eritrea border

KHARTOUM — Sudan has closed its border with Eritrea a week after Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir announced a six-month state of emergency in the regions of Kassala and North Kurdufan, state news agency SUNA said on Saturday. SUNA did not provide reasons for the border closure. Last week’s decree was part of ongoing disarmament campaigns against traffickers that started near Darfur and Blue Nile in October.

“Kassala governor, Adam Gemaa Adam, issued a decree ordering the closure of all border crossings with the state of Eritrea, based on the presidential decree ... that declared the state of emergency in the state of Kassala,” SUNA said.

Three Kassala residents told Reuters that troops had been deployed near the border. The military spokesman couldn’t be reached for comment.

The decision was effective on Friday evening, the agency added.

Meanwhile, Sudanese police fired teargas on Saturday to disperse some 400 demonstrators who marched through the city of Sennar to protest against a hike in bread prices, eyewitnesses told Reuters. The were no immediate reports of deaths or injuries. Bread prices in Sudan have doubled since the government eliminated subsidies this week under its 2018 budget.

The price of a loaf of bread rose from 0.5 Sudanese pounds (7 cents) to 1 pound, the Bakeries Union said on Friday, after the prices of wheat flour rose.

The country’s main opposition parties have called for peaceful protests against the price hikes, and crowds gathered outside bakeries in Khartoum on Friday, expressing frustration at the government’s move.— Reuters.