Sudan: 2 killed in ongoing protests

By Mohammed Amin

KHARTOUM, Sudan (AA) - Two protesters were killed in protests on Thursday in capital Khartoum, doctors said.

The Central Committee of the Sudanese Doctors said in statement: "Two people were killed including minor Mohamed Obied and Dr. Babikir Abdul Hamid."

The Sudanese government in an earlier statement put the death toll in the month-long protests at 24.

Since mid-December, several parts of Sudan have been rocked by protests. Demonstrators decry the government’s apparent failure to rein in inflation and remedy acute commodity shortages.

In power since 1989, President Omar al-Bashir has pledged to carry out urgent economic reforms amid ongoing calls by the opposition to continue protesting.

A nation of some 40 million, Sudan has struggled to recover from the loss of three quarters of its oil output -- its main source of foreign currency -- since the secession of South Sudan in 2011.