Man stabs Sudan presidential guards to death

Man kills two guards with a knife outside presidential palace in Khartoum before being shot dead by
soldiers.


An attacker with a knife has killed two soldiers guarding a gate at Sudan's presidential palace before being shot dead by other troops , the president ' s press secretary has said.

The sword -wielding man, described as "insane ," stabbed a guard and snatched his gun to kill him before fatally firing at another, and was then shot dead himself .

President Omar Hassan al - Bashir was not in Khartoum's Republican Palace when the attack took place on Saturday , Emad Ahmed told Reuters. Bashir was at his official residence in another part of the capital at the time of the attack, the press secretary said.

" A little while ago someone attacked soldiers who guarded one of the gates of the palace and [the soldiers] fired on him , " Ahmed said .

"[ He] did not respond to calls to stop and was shot dead . Two soldiers were killed during the attack by someone who seemed to be suffering from a mental illness, " he said, adding that an investigation was under way .

In a statement , Army spokesman Colonel Al- Sawarmy Khaled Saad named the attacker as Salah
Kafi Quwa, and said he was originally from the town of Kadugli in South Kordofan state , where rebels are battling the Khartoum government.

The 70 -year -old president came to power in a 1989 coup . He announced last month he plans to run for office again next year.