Photos of Sudan protest victims 'faked'

Videos and photographs purporting to show bloodied victims of unrest in Sudan are actually from Egypt, Sudan's interior minister says.

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Sudan's Interior Minister Ibrahim Mahmoud Hamid (C) speaks as Khartoum's governor Abdel Rahman Al-Khidir (R) and Information Minister Ahmed Bilil (L) listen on during a press conference in Khartoum on September 30, 2013.

Photographs widely circulated online and claiming to show protest victims gunned down by Sudanese security forces last week actually came from a neighbouring country, the interior minister claims.

"Most of the pictures on social media websites are from Egypt," Ibrahim Mahmoud Hamed told reporters on Monday.

Authorities say 33 people have died since petrol and diesel prices jumped more than 60 per cent on September 23, sparking protests by thousands, the worst urban unrest in the history of President Omar al-Bashir's 24-year reign.

Activists and international human rights groups say at least 50 people were gunned down, most of them in the greater Khartoum area.

The real toll was difficult to determine but "could be as much as 200," a foreign diplomat told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Videos and photographs purporting to show bloodied victims have circulated on social media networks.

In Egypt, hundreds of people have been killed since the army overthrew Islamist president Mohamed Morsi on July 3.


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Source: AAP

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