KHARTOUM, Sudan, June 18 (UPI) -- Witnesses reported Sudanese security forces in Khartoum fired tear gas on university demonstrators calling for the end of the government of Omar al-Bashir.
Students from the University of Khartoum chanted anti-government slogans in the capital city last weekend. Witnesses told the independent Sudan Tribune that police responded with batons and tear gas to disperse the protesters.
Other universities in the country saw widespread protests and the newspaper reports tensions are still high in the nation's capital.
Khartoum later this year aims to put an end to a fuel subsidy in order to offset a $2.4 billion budget gap. The Sudanese pound has lost value and inflation jumped 30 percent last month. Many of the economic woes were because Sudan lost nearly 75 percent of its oil production when South Sudan became an independent country in July.
South Sudan, under the terms of the secession agreement, gained control over most of the oil fields in the region while Sudan maintained control over export routes.
Sudan has been spared much of the political upheaval that spilled over the region last year. The Sudan Tribune, however, said tensions remain high.
