Sudan cities rocked by demos despite state of emergency

By Mohammed Amin

KHARTOUM

Sudanese capital Khartoum on Thursday saw the largest demonstrations since President Omar al-Bashir declared a countrywide state of emergency last week, according to witnesses.

Protesters also reportedly took to the streets in Omdurman, Sudan’s second largest city.

“Thousands demonstrated in central Omdurman and in the city’s main marketplace,” Ahmed al-Walid, a Sudanese activist, told Anadolu Agency.

Yara Abdul Moneim, another witness, said “hundreds” of protesters had hit the streets in the city’s Burri, Gabra, Kalakla, Sahafa, Geraif and Riyadh districts.

Demonstrations have continued unabated since last Friday, when al-Bashir announced a one-year countrywide state of emergency.

Sudan has been rocked by protests since mid-December, with demonstrators decrying the government’s apparent failure to remedy the country’s chronic economic woes.

A nation of 40 million, Sudan has struggled to recover from the loss of some three quarters of its oil output -- its main source of foreign currency -- following the secession of South Sudan in 2011.