South Sudan imposed a curfew after attacks on Sudanese people and businesses

After a series of attacks on businesses and homes owned by Sudanese, the police chief in neighboring South Sudan imposed an overnight curfew to calm tensions.

Three people were killed and seven wounded in violent clashes with security forces in the capital Juba and the northwestern city of Aweil, police said. Their nationalities have not been disclosed.

According to officers, three houses belonging to Sudanese nationals were set on fire in Aweila.

No one will be allowed outside between 6:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. local time (4:00 p.m. and 4:00 a.m. GMT) to “prevent any violation of public or private property,” Inspector General Abraham Manyuat Peter said on Friday. .

A second police source told the BBC that officers rescued 45 Sudanese traders in Juba, who are now under guard at a police station.

South Sudan broke away from Sudan to form an independent country in 2011 after a long civil war, but in recent years, an increasing number of Sudanese have been fleeing to South Sudan to escape the latest conflict.

Sudan has become the world’s worst humanitarian crisis since April 2023. for the first time the country’s warring generals attacked each other. Half of the population – approximately 25 million people – are in dire need of food and aid, according to the UN.

Recent videos showing Sudanese soldiers killing South Sudanese civilians appear to show the town of Wad Madani, the capital of Gezira state in central Sudan, over the past few days.

Human rights groups have confirmed that at least 13 – including children – were killed there because of their ethnicity.

Darker-skinned people say racism is endemic in Sudan, and the targeted attacks on those communities by light-skinned Arab fighters today in places like Gezira and Darfur have a long-standing precedent.

Slave raids were widely reported to have continued until the end of the civil war in 2005which led to predominantly black South Sudan seceding from Arabic-speaking Sudan six years later.

The events depicted in the viral videos have been condemned by South Sudanese at home and abroad in the diaspora.

Enraged by what they saw in the clips and wanting revenge, hundreds of youths attacked Sudanese businesses in Juba and other parts of South Sudan on Thursday.

Gunshots were heard throughout the night as security forces patrolled.

The BBC witnessed dozens of young men – mostly in their 20s – fleeing as police chased them down Tambura Road, one of the busiest streets in the Juba suburb of Atlabara.

On Friday, shops and businesses in Juba, including the country’s largest market, Konyo Konyo, remain closed. Restaurants and cafeterias were also closed as owners take precautions.

Bread prices rose by as much as 17% in Juba on Friday with several local bakeries opening.

Police continue to harass youths who move from one neighborhood to another, targeting Sudanese. Dozens of police officers were deployed to protect Sudanese and their businesses in the suburbs of Atalabaro C and others, the BBC reports.

We saw a police car surround and take away a group of young people.

Witnesses in Wau, the country’s second-largest city, told the BBC by telephone on Friday that hundreds of angry youths attacked Souk Jaw, a popular market with many Sudanese-owned businesses.

They also tried to loot a number of shops, but the police fired live bullets into the air to disperse them.

Elsewhere, spontaneous demonstrations reportedly broke out on Friday in the town of Tonge in Warapa, the home state of President Salva Kiir.

The BBC was unable to independently verify claims of attacks and robberies in areas outside Juba.