By AFPMore by this AuthorOMDURMANSudan's main opposition leader Sadiq al-Mahdi on Saturday blamed "armed repression" for the death of 22 people in days of protests over the rising cost of bread, although officials gave a lower death toll. A government decision to increase the price of a loaf of bread from one Sudanese pound to three (from about two to six US cents) has sparked demonstrations across the country since Wednesday. Mahdi called for a "national and international investigation" into the deaths and said demonstrations will continue to rock Sudan. Inflation is running at close to 70 percent and the Sudanese pound has plunged in value, while shortages have been reported for the past three weeks across several cities including Khartoum. A presidential adviser, Faisal Hassan Ibrahim, said the latest protests were being manipulated by "organised entities" without naming particular groups.

Source: Daily Nation December 23, 2018 09:45 UTC