The forces of the Declaration of Freedom and Change called Sunday on the Sudanese government to declare Sudan a natural disaster zone and to ask international, regional and local non-profits to work on helping citizens affected by the floods.
In a statement issued, it said that the Nile River continues to rise amid heavy rainfall. “We are following with great concern the suffering of citizens.”
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Sudan documented in its latest Situation Report that heavy rains and flash floods destroyed and damaged more than 37,000 homes, reporting to date 54 flood-related deaths.
Meanwhile, the newly-created Sovereign Council dismissed the acting governor and the head of the national security service in Port Sudan, the capital of the Red Sea state.
The decision came following clashes that raged Wednesday between the tribes of Bani Amer and Nuba, killing at least 27 people.
“The Sovereign Council decided to relieve the governor of the Red Sea and the head of its security apparatus (from their duties),” the country’s transitional ruling body said in a statement.
It also “ordered the activation of a state of emergency (in the state) and the formation of an investigating committee.”
The statement added that authorities had detected for the first time the use of firearms in the fighting, which reveals internal and external interference to fuel the conflict.
A source told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Council is expected to take similar measures in a number of other cities in eastern Sudan, including Gadarif and Kassala, where confrontations occur between the same tribes.
