Sudan police beat protesters at demonstration, cease-fire broken: Monitors

KHARTOUM: Anti-riot police fired tear gas and beat protesters with batons Tuesday as hundreds of Sudanese demonstrated against soaring bread prices near a presidential palace in Khartoum, an AFP correspondent said.
Bread prices have more than doubled after a jump in the cost of flour due to dwindling wheat supplies, after the government decided to stop importing grain and allow private companies to do so.
The protest was the biggest in Khartoum since demonstrations erupted in some parts of the country earlier this month following the price increase.
On Tuesday, hundreds of protesters poured into the streets near a presidential palace in central Khartoum after the opposition Communist Party of Sudan called for an anti-government rally.
“No, no to hunger! No, no to high prices!” protesters shouted near the palace.
Police fired tear gas and hit protesters with batons as they tried to break up the protest.
A senior leader from the Communist Party, Siddig Yousif, was detained along with several protesters, the correspondent reported.
The Communist Party had sought permission from the authorities last week to hold Tuesday’s rally but it had been denied.
“Today is an important day for Sudan as it is the start of widespread protests,” a demonstrator told AFP on condition of anonymity.
“We were demonstrating peacefully but still the police beat us. This shows that the regime will not tolerate even peaceful protests.”
Pictures and videos of Tuesday’s protests were widely uploaded on social media networks like Twitter and Facebook.
Meanwhile, 16 people have been killed, including three children, since South Sudan’s cease-fire started less than a month ago, say monitors.
Both government and opposition forces have committed multiple violations since the cease-fire began on Dec. 24, according to four separate investigations released Tuesday by the Cease-fire and Transitional Security Arrangements Monitoring Mechanism, an independent body.