Port Sudan clashes kill 30, curfew imposed

KHARTOUM: Thirty people have been killed and 116 wounded in days of clashes between rival ethnic groups in Port Sudan, medical sources said on Thursday.

No further details on the casualties were provided.

Violence broke out in the Red Sea city on Sunday evening and has continued despite the arrival of security reinforcements, witnesses said.

Authorities have imposed a nightime curfew on the eastern city, whose port is the transit point for most of Sudan’s foreign trade.

Fighting began when Nuba residents, who had been demonstrating against a new governor, entered a neighbourhood dominated by the

Beni Amer people, witnesses said. Sudan has beefed up security and imposed a curfew in its main sea gateway, the interior ministry said late on Wednesday.

Security forces arrested 85 people, the ministry said in a statement. The casualties included security force members.

The government had deployed more security forces to the state to impose “the prestige of the state and the rule of law, and to strengthen security and stability,” the interior ministry said.

The security measures had helped to stabilise the situation and led to “a cautious calm,” it added.

Prime Minster Abdalla Hamdok said in an earlier statement he had held several meetings during the past week with community and political leaders from eastern Sudan to address “the political, security and violence situation” in the region.

Members of the international community e warned against atempts to derail the peace process in Sudan.

Peace negotiations are ongoing between Sudan’s government and rebel groups to bring stability to the restive regions of Darfur, Blue Nile and South Kordofan.

Over 20 countries and international organisations, including the US and the European Union, expressed support for Hamdok’s government at a meeting in Riyadh Wednesday, according to a declaration carried by the official Saudi Press Agency and cited by Sudanese local media.

They also expressed “a willingness to impose consequences on all spoilers to the peace process,” without elaborating.

“There are no military solutions to Sudan’s internal conflicts,” the statement said, adding that another “Friends of Sudan” meeting was planned for October.

Sudan’s transitional government and rebel groups also took part in the meeting, held via videoconference, along with representatives from South Sudan, which is playing a key role as a mediator in the peace talks.