About 56 Sudanese traders who were living in Upper Nile State’s Renk County were arrested by Sudan’s national security service in the Joda area.

The traders were driven by the recent fighting in Renk County and sought shelter in Joda area where they were reportedly arrested by security personnel.

Speaking to Radio Tamazuj yesterday, several displaced people at the checkpoint in Joda confirmed the arrest of 56 traders by the authorities, saying the arrest was carried out based on ethnicity especially those who hail from Darfur or South Kordofan.

The chairmen of the Nuba Community Association in Renk County Ali El Nil has also been arrested and taken into military custody in Khartoum, according to the same sources.

Thousands of families in Renk town have been fleeing the town since the first shelling by South Sudanese rebel forces killed at least eight people and wounded numerous others. Many of the refugees from the town headed for White Nile state.