Sudan: three dead in clashes in the east

Three people died and a dozen others were injured in tribal clashes after the appointment of a civilian governor as head of a state in eastern Sudan, the prime minister's office said Thursday. "An authorized demonstration in Kassala escalated, shops were burnt down, private property was destroyed and two people were killed," according to a statement from the office of the head of government.

Read also: Sudan: the Blue Nile has reached a historic level

A first protester was killed on Wednesday, the statement said, bringing the number of victims to three. Eleven other people were injured. "Several people involved in the violence have been arrested," added the statement, which specifies that Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok has decided to send reinforcements to Kassala. A state of emergency has been declared to reduce traffic and security forces have been deployed to prevent violence, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) said Thursday.

Coming from the surrounding villages, a few thousand people have been chanting slogans hostile to the new governor, Salah Ammar for several days. As he had pledged, Mr. Hamdok replaced all military governors with civilians on July 22 in the 18 states that make up Sudan.

But the transition comes up against tribal rivalries. In Kassala, the new governor belongs to the Beni Amer tribe, which arouses the ire of the Beja, the other tribe in the region. Each of the tribes has its own language and its own traditions.