Sudan police kill protesters on second day of protests over economic hardship

Sudanese security forces have killed at least three people amid country-wide protests against economic hardship, especially higher bread prices.

Sources in the central city of Gadarif told The New Arab's Arabic-language service on Thursday that a protester and a medic were shot by police as hundreds of students held a protest. A medical source said third person was killed in the city of Barbar.

Protesters in Gadarif set fire to government buildings and attempted to storm a branch of the state-run bank, witnesses said.

Domestic media has reported that violent protests have broken out across the country, including in the capital Khartoum.

The deaths come a day after protests began on Wednesday in response to the government's decision to raise the price of bread from one Sudanese pound to three (from about two to six US cents).

In Atbra, around 250 miles east of Khartoum, angry protesters set fire to the headquarters of the National Congress Party of President Omar al-Bashir.

The authorities responded by announcing they had imposed a curfew in Atbra from 6:00 pm to 6:00 am.

The state-run SUNA news agency quoted an official as saying that the protests were an attempt by political opponents to "stir up sedition and to undermine security".

Social media users in the country have shared images and videos of the demonstrations using an Arabic-language hashtag: "Sudanese cities revolt".

In the past year, the cost of some commodities has more than doubled in Sudan, where inflation is running at close to 70 percent and the pound has plunged in value.

Sporadic protests broke out in January this year over the rising cost of food, but they were soon brought under control with the arrest of opposition leaders and activists.

Sudan's economy has struggled for most of the nearly three decades Bashir has been in power.

The situation has rapidly deteriorated since the secession of the south of the country in 2011, which deprived Khartoum of the oilfields there.

In the hope of securing aid and investments, Bashir has in recent years moved closer to oil-rich Gulf Arab nations, especially Saudi Arabia.