Fresh bread protests roil Sudan

New protests against bread price hikes in Sudan have hit two cities, as riot police ensured an uneasy calm in the capital Khartoum five days into demonstrations that have claimed at least eight lives.

Residents in Um Rawaba, 200 kilometers southwest of Khartoum, tell AFP that some 600 people gathered in the market chanting the slogan “the people want the fall of the regime.”

Protesters burned tires and branches in the streets and attempted to storm a government building before being rebuffed by security officials, witnesses say.

In Atabara, 300 kilometers northeast of the capital, riot police and plain-clothed operatives deployed tear gas against hundreds of protesters, a witness says.

A wave of unrest has rocked Sudan since Wednesday after the government hiked the price of a loaf of bread from one Sudanese pound to three from about two to six US cents.

— AFP