Clashes erupt in Port Sudan as Sudanese army dismantles militia checkpoint
September 18, 2023 (PORT SUDAN) – On Monday, the Sudanese army clashed with a local militia in Port Sudan when they intervened to dismantle a checkpoint the militiamen had set up to regulate the movement of goods out of the state.
On Monday evening, an armed militia from the Beja National Congress, led by Shibah Dirar, erected a checkpoint on a main street in Port Sudan to inspect the documents of vehicles carrying goods out of the Sea Port Terminal.
Eyewitnesses informed Sudan Tribune that the Sudanese army was compelled to address members of the Eastern Sudan Beja National Congress, under the leadership of Shaiba Dirar, to remove the checkpoint established the previous Monday evening on a Diem neighbourhood street.
These sources pointed out that individuals associated with Dirar, a tribal leader closely linked to the former governor of the Red Sea State and a dignitary of the former regime, Mohamed Tahir Ayla, clashed with the army before fleeing.
The exchange of gunfire created panic in the coastal city, which has become the temporary administrative capital of Sudan, after the outbreak of conflict with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Khartoum in April.
Following the clashes, the authorities in the Red Sea State declared a state of emergency and imposed a curfew in Port Sudan, effective from eleven o’clock at night.
The army pursued the Dirar militia outside the Diem Market, seizing military uniforms and weapons left behind by the militiamen, with no reported human casualties.
Shibah Dirar is a prominent traditional leader of the Red Sea State Native Administration who formed a militia consisting of hundreds of recruits. He and his forces appeared in several video clips after the October 25, 2021 military coup.
Dirar informed Sudan Tribune that approximately 50 cars carrying army personnel stormed his organization’s headquarters in Deem Medina, Port Sudan, before withdrawing.
He further said they established the checkpoint to prevent smuggling goods out of the state while Port Sudan residents lacked essential commodities. He also questioned the source of humanitarian assistance distributed by the RSF in Khartoum, alleging the presence of corrupt collaborators in the port city.
Local authorities declined to comment on the incident.
In July, Dirar announced his readiness to mobilize thousands of fighters to support the army in its conflict against the RSF in Khartoum, Darfur, and Kordofan.
(ST)