South Darfur police fire tear gas to disperse protesters
September 22, 2019 (KHARTOUM) – The security forces in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur state, Sunday used tear gas to disperse a demonstration by school student against bread and transport shortages.
Nyala has been experiencing a severe bread and transport crisis, as students experienced difficulties to reach their schools in addition to the general bread crisis.
The march started at 11:00 am on several streets in the city, then gathered in the downtown and burned tires before to reach the state government buildings where the police fired warning shots in the air and tear gas to break up them.
Darfur 24, a local news website cited medical sources saying that more than 20 protesters that have fainted from the tear gas, were admitted to Nyala Teaching Hospital.
The protesters chanted slogans calling for providing bread in the city and demanding to sack of the state governor.
The leader of the Sudanese Congress Party (SCoP) Omer al-Digair condemned the use of violence against school students and called for the removal of the governor of South Darfur.
“The use of violence against the peaceful protest by school student is a desperate recall of the authoritarian regime’s behaviour,” al-Digair said in a tweet posted on Sunday.
In the same vein, the Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC) condemned in a statement extended to Sudan Tribune the “use of tear gas and live bullets against peaceful protesters”.
The FFC underscored the right for Sudanese to demonstrate peacefully has been ensured after the four-month protests that removed the former regime after huge human sacrifice.
“We denounce this behaviour which represents the former regime’s legacy and we warn against a delay to the appointment of civilian governors who reflect the revolution’s goals and aspirations,” said the statement.
The FFC further demanded an immediate investigation into the incident and hold accountable those responsible for the use of violence against the peaceful protesters.
There was no immediate comment from the Sudanese authorities.
(ST)