South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir has urged citizens to remain calm and not take the law into their own hands following a spate of attacks on businesses and homes owned by neighboring Sudanese.
Three people were killed and seven injured after violent confrontations with security agents in the capital Juba and the northwestern town of Aweil, police said. Their nationality has not been disclosed.
According to police, three houses owned by Sudanese nationals were set on fire in Aweil.
A dusk-to-dawn curfew was announced on Friday to control tensions.
Inspector General Abraham Manyuat Peter said no one would be allowed on the streets between 18:00 and 06:00 local time (16:00 – 04:00 GMT) “to prevent encroachments on public and private property”. .
A second police source told the BBC that police had rescued 45 Sudanese traders from Juba and were now being guarded at a police station.
South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011 after a long civil war and established an independent nation, but the number of Sudanese escaping to South Sudan to escape the recent civil war has been increasing.
Sudan has suffered the world’s worst humanitarian crisis since the country’s generals first attacked each other in April 2023. The United Nations says about 25 million people, half the population, are in dire need of food and aid.
Recent videos showing Sudanese soldiers killing South Sudanese civilians appear to have appeared in the city of Wad Madani, the capital of Gezira State in central Sudan, over the past few days.
South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir said what happened in Wad Madani was a heinous and unacceptable crime. He called on the Sudanese government to protect South Sudanese citizens trapped there and investigate the massacre with the help of international humanitarian groups.
Human rights groups confirmed that at least 13 people, including some children, were killed there because of their ethnicity. Sudan’s military said it had ordered an investigation into the reports.
Dark-skinned people say racism is endemic in Sudan, and today’s attacks on these communities by light-skinned Arab fighters in places like Gezira and Darfur have a long history. there is.
Slave raids are widely believed to have continued until the end of the Civil War in 2005.This resulted in the predominantly black African country of South Sudan separating from Arabic-speaking Sudan six years later.
The incidents captured in the viral video have been criticized by South Sudanese in the diaspora at home and abroad.
Hundreds of young men angry at what they saw in the video and seeking revenge 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 saw dozens of young people, mostly in their 20s, running along Tambura Road, one of the busiest streets in Juba Atrabara suburb, with police chasing them.
On Friday, shops and businesses in Juba, including the country’s largest market; Konyo Konyo remains closed. Restaurants and cafeterias have also been closed as owners take precautions.
Bread prices jumped as much as 17% at several local bakeries that opened in Juba on Friday.
Police continue to track young people moving from one neighborhood to another, targeting Sudanese residents. The BBC understands dozens of police officers have been deployed to protect Sudanese nationals and their businesses in the Atalabara C suburb and other areas.
We saw a police vehicle taking away a group of young people.
Witnesses in Wau, Sudan’s second-largest city, told the BBC by phone on Friday that hundreds of angry youths attacked Souk Jaw, a popular market largely owned by Sudanese-owned companies.
They also attempted to loot several stores, but police fired live ammunition into the air to disperse them.
Elsewhere, spontaneous protests reportedly broke out in President Salva Kiir’s hometown of Waraf Tonj village on Friday.
The BBC was unable to independently verify claims of attacks and looting in areas outside Juba.
