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Three die in Sudan camp riots
18/03/2004 21:56 - (SA)
Khartoum- Three people have been killed in a riot in a camp for displaced people, the Khartoum provincial police said on Thursday.
The police statement did not disclose whether the three dead - two women and a man - were killed by police fire or the actions of the rioters on Wednesday.
The Mayo camp, 20km southwest of Khartoum, hosts people who have been forced out of their homes by the civil war in southern Sudan and the more recent rebellion in the western province of Darfur.
Police, who have barred journalists from the camp, did not say what sparked the violence.
"The events started when a group of vagabonds, controlled by political forces that have a vested interest in spurring unrest and undermining public order, attacked the police station in Nasr district, leading to the wounding of police officers," the police statement said.
"The police intervened to stop saboteurs and agitators, who it dispersed. But they regrouped and entered the camp in a manner that created chaos," the statement said. It was then that the three people were killed.
About 300 people from Darfur have recently moved into Mayo camp. The police statement did not say whether they were involved in the riot.
"Police have arrested a number of saboteurs and will prosecute them," the statement added.
Edited by Tisha Steyn
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