Student protest turns violent in Sudan's S. Kordofan

KHARTOUM, Feb 19 (Reuters) More than 20 people were injured in clashes between protesters and police forces in Sudan's South Kordofan state, a security source said today.

The source, who declined to be named, told Reuters clashes erupted in the state capital Kadugli yesterday after a student protest turned violent. Eight or nine protesters were injured, as well as between 15 and 20 policemen.

More than 30 government vehicles were wrecked or burned, the source added.

The independent daily al-Sudani cited South Kordofan Governor Ismail Khamis Jallab as saying the incident began when secondary school students protested at a strike by teachers who had not been paid their January salaries.

''The protests transformed from demands to destruction,'' the paper quoted Jallab as saying.

''The students were demanding that the schools be reopened and the teachers paid,'' the security source told Reuters.

Security has been reinforced throughout the town, and schools will remain closed today and tomorrow as a precaution, the source said.

Reuters AB RN2049