UPDATE - Sudan demonstrations continue for 10th consecutive day

UPDATED WITH COMMENTS FROM SUDANESE PM

By Mohammed Amin

KHARTOUM (AA) - Demonstrations in Khartoum continued for the 10th day in a row on Friday, with protesters decrying rampant inflation and acute bread shortages.

According to local witnesses, hundreds of protesters took to the streets across the capital after Friday prayers.

Security forces used teargas to disperse demonstrators, who chanted slogans against the regime of President Omar al-Bashir, witnesses said.

Similar demonstrations were reported on Friday in the cities of Atbara (River Nile State), Dinder (Sennar State) and Port Sudan (Red Sea State).

In a related development, the Umma Reform and Renewal Party, headed by Mubarak al-Fadil, announced its withdrawal from the Sudanese government.

“We pulled our representatives out of the Cabinet to protest the use of violence against protesters and the ruling party’s failure to implement recommendations agreed upon as part of Sudan’s National Dialogue initiative,” the party said in a late Thursday statement.

Earlier the same day, Information Minister Bushara Gumaa put the number of people killed during 10 days of protests at 19, including two security personnel.

Opposition groups, for their part, say the death toll is closer to 40.

Sudanese Prime Minister Mutaz Musa on Friday condemned the violence and expressed sorrow at the deaths.

“We are saddened for those who lost their lives, and we condemn the violence through the demonstration,” he said in a Facebook post.

Violent demonstrations erupted last Wednesday in the cities of Atbara and Port Sudan.

In a couple of days, the protests broke out in several cities, including Er-Rahad in northern Sudan, the southern town of Berber and El-Gadarif and El-Obeid in eastern Sudan.

Sudanese authorities have announced a state of emergency and curfew in a number of provinces over the protests, with government officials accusing Israel of plotting with rebel groups to cause violence in the country.

A nation of 40 million people, Sudan has struggled to recover from the loss of three quarters of its oil output – its main source of foreign currency – when South Sudan seceded in 2011.