CAIRO — The Beja tribes have been protesting in eastern Sudan, calling for the dissolution of the government in light of the poor economic conditions in the area and for the abolition of the Juba Peace Agreement.

On Sept. 24, protesters shut down the port in Port Sudan, which is seen as the first commercial outlet in the country. They also blocked the main roads connecting eastern Sudan to the capital Khartoum, a move that has halted imports and exports from and to Sudan since the protests broke out in the beginning of September.

The protests in the east were accompanied by demonstrations in Khartoum this week, where thousands of citizens staged a sit in calling on the military to topple the government. US envoy for the Horn of Africa Jeffrey Feltman arrived in Khartoum today for talks on the situation, which Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok has referred to as the “worst and most dangerous" crisis the country's democratic transition

Salah Halima, an Egyptian former assistant foreign minister, told Al-Monitor that the crisis is eastern Sudan is political and not a security issue.