Curfew in South Sudan following revenge attacks on Sudanese people and businesses

Following a series of attacks on Sudanese-owned businesses and homes, the police chief of neighboring South Sudan announced a nighttime curfew to calm tensions.

Three people were killed and seven injured in violent clashes with security officers in the capital Juba and the northwestern city of Aweil, police say. Their nationalities have not been revealed.

According to officers, three houses belonging to Sudanese citizens were set on fire in Aweil.

No one will be allowed to go out on the street between 6:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. local time (4:00 p.m. and 4:00 a.m. GMT) to “avoid any violation of public and private property,” Inspector General Abraham Manyuat Peter said on Friday. . .

A second police source told the BBC that officers rescued 45 Sudanese traders in Juba who are now receiving protection at a police station.

South Sudan split from Sudan to form an independent country in 2011 after a long civil war, but more recently, increasing numbers of Sudanese are fleeing to South Sudan to escape the latest conflict.

Sudan has become the world’s worst humanitarian crisis since the country’s warring generals first clashed in April 2023. Half the population (about 25 million people) urgently needs food and aid, UN says .

Recent images showing suspected Sudanese soldiers killing South Sudanese civilians appear to show the town of Wad Madani, the capital of Gezira state in central Sudan, in recent days.

Human rights groups confirmed that at least 13 people, including some children, were killed there because of their ethnicity.

Darker-skinned people say racism is endemic in Sudan, and the targeted attacks on these communities by lighter-skinned Arab fighters occurring today in places like Gezira and Darfur have a long precedent.

Slave raids were widely reported to have continued until the end of the civil war in 2005.leading to mainly black South Sudan separating from Arabic-speaking Sudan six years later.

The events shown in the viral videos have been condemned by South Sudanese at home and abroad in the diaspora.

Outraged by what they saw in the videos and wanting to retaliate, hundreds of youths attacked Sudanese-owned businesses in Juba and other parts of South Sudan on Thursday.

Gunshots were heard throughout the night as security forces patrolled.

The BBC witnessed dozens of young people, mostly in their 20s, running as they were chased by police along Tambura Road, one of the busiest streets in Juba’s Atlabara suburbs.

On Friday shops and businesses in Juba, including the country’s largest market, Konyo Konyo, remains closed. Restaurants and cafes have also been closed while owners take precautionary measures.

Bread prices soared by as much as 17% in Juba on Friday at the few local bakeries that opened.

The police continue to pursue young people who move from one neighborhood to another, targeting Sudanese residents. Dozens of police have been deployed to protect Sudanese people and their businesses in the suburbs of Atalabara C and others, the BBC understands.

We saw a police vehicle stop and take away a group of young people.

Eyewitnesses in Wau, the country’s second largest city, told the BBC by phone on Friday that hundreds of angry youths had attacked Souk Jaw, a popular market, which has many Sudanese-owned businesses.

They also attempted to loot several stores, but the police fired bursts of live ammunition into the air to disperse them.

Elsewhere, spontaneous demonstrations reportedly broke out on Friday in the town of Tonj in Warrap, President Salva Kiir’s home state.

The BBC was unable to independently verify claims of attacks and looting occurring in areas outside Juba.