JUBA, Jan 19, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Another 12 people have died in the past two days in South Sudan in attacks on citizens from northern neighbour Sudan, the security forces reported Saturday, despite an overnight curfew.

Demonstrations sparked by reports that 29 South Sudanese had been killed during fighting in Sudan's Al-Jazeera state led to the looting of businesses owned by Sudanese nationals in the capital Juba. 

Police opened fire to disperse the crowd, killing three and wounding seven. 

South Sudan security forces said Saturday that nine people -- two South Sudanese and seven Sudanese -- had been killed during protests Friday in the town of Aweil.

The world's newest nation had imposed a curfew Friday night as protests spread to other towns. 

"The general security situation is relatively calm and stable in the whole country for the last 24 hours," police spokesman John Kassara said in a statement.

An AFP reporter said the streets of Juba appeared calm Saturday evening with a heavy police presence, though Sudanese-owned businesses remained closed.

South Sudan president Salva Kiir called for restraint.

More than 600 Sudanese on Friday were taken to South Sudan army headquarters for their protection, said the army general staff.

Another 278 people, including children, were under police protection in the state of Central Equatoria, said police there.

Many Sudanese live or have taken refuge in South Sudan, which broke away from its northern neighbour in 2011 and has been wracked by instability ever since.

Many fled the civil war that broke out in Sudan in April 2023, pitting the official army against its former ally the Rapid Support Forces militia. 

The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced at estimated 12 millions more.

Famine has claimed the lives of tens of thousands more.