Two students killed amid protests in Sudan

By Husamuddin el-Bedevi

KHARTOUM (AA) - At least two people were reportedly killed Thursday in anti-government demonstrations in Sudan.

The independent Sudanese Doctors' Central Committee said in a statement that a university student died from torture in custody.

There has been no official confirmation, however.

Another student, 24-year-old Abdulazim Abu Bakr, was shot in the chest during demonstrations in the capital Khartoum, the committee said.

The number of people killed during the roughly month-long demonstrations has reached 29, said Amir Muhammed Ibrahim, the chief prosecutor who was assigned to investigate the protests.

Amnesty International puts the death toll at closer to 40.

Sudan has been rocked by popular protests since mid-December, with demonstrators decrying President Omar al-Bashir’s seeming failure to remedy the country’s chronic economic woes.

Earlier this month, al-Bashir -- in power since 1989 -- pledged to carry out urgent economic reforms amid continued calls by the opposition to protest.

A nation of 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.