At least 24 people have died in the protests Reinforcements joined riot police who had already deployed in the district KHARTOUM: Crowds of people chanting “Peace, justice, freedom” returned to the street in the Sudanese capital on Tuesday as authorities deployed hundreds of police to disperse them, witnesses said. They said police fired tear gas to disperse the protesters in Khartoum. Deadly protests have rocked Sudan since Dec. 19 when angry demonstrators rallied in towns and villages against a government decision to raise the price of bread. At least 24 people have died in the protests, which swiftly turned into nationwide anti-government rallies in which demonstrators called on President Omar Bashir to step down. On Tuesday, men and women gathered in the capital’s southern business district of El-Kalakla, witnesses said. They chanted “Peace, freedom, justice” and “We are fighters, we will achieve our mission.” Reinforcements joined riot police who had already deployed in the district and other areas of Khartoum and its twin city of Omdurman after organizers called for anti-government rallies. The Sudanese Professionals’ Association (SPA) that is spearheading the rallies have urged protesters to continue with their near daily demonstrations this week, calling it as the “Week of Uprising.” Rights groups say more than 1,000 people have been arrested since the protests began, including opposition leaders, activists and journalists as well as demonstrators. Although the unrest was triggered by the rise in the price of bread, Sudan has faced a mounting economic crisis in the past year, including an acute shortage of foreign currency. Repeated shortages of food and fuel have been reported across cities, while the cost of food and medicine has more than doubled. Once seen as the breadbasket of the Arab world, the protesters say that many years of mismanagement have turned Sudan into a failed state. They blame Bashir for South Sudan’s secession and for Sudan being placed on a US list of countries that sponsor terrorism. The opposition comprises several political parties whose leaders are in Sudan, and several armed groups led mainly from abroad or from conflict zones in southern or western Sudan. Members of opposition parties have joined the protests, which are mainly led by the SPA. With a weekly program of demonstrations circulated on social media, the SPA has eclipsed the traditional opposition parties. Bashir is the head of the Islamic Movement party, which has a similar ideology to the global Islamist organization, the Muslim Brotherhood. He also has direct control over security forces, including the feared Rapid Support Force comprising former militias loyal to the ruling party, which he has often used to crush dissent. But his position has been eroded by the economic crisis that sent inflation soaring to around 70 percent. Bashir"s supporters fear the protests may embolden small but influential factions within the ruling party who oppose changing the constitution to allow the president to seek a new term in office in 2020.