By Mohammed Amin

KHARTOUM, Sudan (AA): At least 24 people have been killed in Sudan since protests began on Dec. 19 over the country’s deteriorating economy, the country’s public officer said on Saturday.

A total of 131 people were also injured during the protests, Amir Mohamed Ibrahim said at a news conference.

Hundreds turned up after Friday prayers (Jum’ah) to continue with a wave of anti-government protests that have rocked the country since last December Protests in parts of the capital Khartoum and across the second largest city of Omdurman were dispersed by police using tear gas and according to some reports live ammunition.

Angry crowds have staged hundreds of protests against the regime of President Omar al-Bashir after a government decision last month to triple the price of bread.

More than 800 journalists, activists, protesters and opposition leaders have been arrested since the unrest began.

Sudan has been rocked by protests since mid-December, with demonstrators decrying the government’s seeming inability to rein in rampant inflation and acute commodity shortages.

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.

Additional report by The Muslim News

[Photo: Sudanese protesters attacked by security forces with tear gas, cover their faces during an anti-government demonstration in the capital Khartoum on January 6, 2018. Photographer: Stringer/AA]