UPDATE - Protests erupt in eastern, northern Sudan: Witnesses

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By Adel Abdul Rahim and Bahram Abdel-Moneim

KHARTOUM (AA) – Violent demonstrations erupted Thursday in the Sudanese cities of Gadarif (east) and Dongola (north) amid mounting protest activity countrywide, local witnesses told Anadolu Agency.

In Gadarif, demonstrators set fire to a local government building, while in Dongola they torched an office of the ruling National Congress Party, witnesses, speaking anonymously due to security concerns, said.

The protests in Gadarif were started by high school students on Thursday morning, after which they were joined by hundreds of local residents at the city’s central market, witnesses told Anadolu Agency.

In Dongola, meanwhile, where an acute bread shortage has been reported, protests were launched in the nearby town of Al-Salim by students from Dongola University who demanded better public services.

The government, for its part, has yet to comment on the reported disturbances.