20 dead in overnight clashes in Khartoum

KHARTOUM, Aug 3, 2005 — At least 20 people were reported killed overnight in retaliatory violence against southern Sudanese in Khartoum, where residents said armed men roamed the streets despite a curfew.

Police and troops patrol downtown Khartoum and areas around the city as protesters continue to attack and burn cars, civilian homes and markets for the second day in Khartoum,Tuesday Aug. 2, 2005. (AP).

A U.N. security briefing obtained by Reuters on Wednesday morning reported around 20 deaths overnight.

Violence in the capital erupted on Monday when angry southerners took to the streets after the official announcement that former southern rebel leader and First Vice-President John Garang had died in a helicopter crash.

Police said on Tuesday that 46 people had been killed in the violence.

William Ezekiel, editor of the daily Khartoum Monitor with close ties to the southern community, on Wednesday said residents reported that 47 were killed overnight in the Khartoum suburb of Mamoura and 15 were killed in the district of Kalakla, in the south of the city where violence had also been reported on Tuesday.

Those reports could not immediately be verified.

Ezekiel quoted residents as saying that gun shots and sirens could still be heard in some suburbs of Khartoum.

Central Khartoum was quiet with traffic moving normally amid heavy security. Residents said it was also quiet overnight.

(Reuters)