Toll rises on second day of Sudan riot

In addition, there were 306 wounded people, deputy police chief Ahmed al-Hussein said in a statement on Tuesday.

A security official earlier said at least 36 people had been killed in Monday’s riots, which were followed by more clashes on Tuesday.

In some of the worst violence in the capital in years, angry southerners rampaged through Khartoum, burning shops and vehicles. On Tuesday, northern and southern Sudanese clashed in a shantytown on the south side of Khartoum.

Central Khartoum was quiet on Tuesday, but residents and journalists said clashes between northern and southern Sudanese had broken out in a shantytown 10km south of the city centre.

“There are clashes in the streets … between the northerners living in the area and the southerners who attacked,” one resident said.
 

A curfew was imposed overnight in Khartoum following the riots

Witnesses said police entered the area and helicopters could be seen flying overhead.

Garang, a key figure in a January peace deal and leader of southern Sudan’s rebel movement during its two decades of war with the government in Khartoum, died when the helicopter he was travelling in crashed in bad weather at the weekend.

The death of Garang, who was sworn in as Sudan’s first vice-president on 9 July, was announced on Monday. There has been no suggestion of foul play.

Aljazeera’s correspondent in Khartoum, Muhammad Fal, reported that armoured police vehicles have been patrolling since early on Tuesday, and some were stationed around the University of Khartoum and other places.

The streets had emptied during a curfew imposed between 6pm and 6am (1500-0300 GMT) after southerners rampaged on Monday through Khartoum, angered by the death of Garang.
 
Fears

Some southerners fear Garang’s absence could weaken their hand in governing Africa’s largest country, divided between an Arabised Muslim north and the south, which is a mix of Christian, animist and Muslim African ethnicities. 
 

Garang, SPLM leader, was a key figure in a January peace deal

Witnesses said southerners, who have long claimed that the northern government discriminated against them, attacked northern Arabs when they took to the streets.

Armoured vehicles deployed to areas that were hit by the violence and to bridges in the capital which straddles the confluence of the Blue and White Nile rivers, witnesses said.

Vigilantes

Police and army patrolled the abandoned streets at night and were still present in numbers in the morning. Witnesses said some vigilante groups made up of 10 to 15 people with sticks had gathered in some locations hit by the violence overnight.

Some of the violence has been blamed on vigilante groups

“They burnt all the shops in this area. We have lost too many goods. Today the streets are safe. There is security everywhere. I don’t feel afraid,” said Mohamed Hassan,
owner of a mobile phone shop that was looted.

Many shops were burnt out in downtown Khartoum. Two car hire firms said several of their vehicles were smashed up.

“There are shards of glass lying on the streets. Many cars have been smashed and many shops have been burnt out,” said taxi driver Saif al-Din.