Talodi, October 23 (Darfur24)
Hundreds of residents in Talodi County, South Kordofan State, staged demonstrations on Wednesday to protest the continued use of cyanide by gold mining companies operating in the area.
Local sources told Darfur24 that demonstrators marched to the “basin” sites in the Al-Kiss mine, north of Talodi, where they forcibly halted operations in what was described as a popular uprising against companies accused of “slowly killing people and the environment.”
Protesters chanted slogans demanding an immediate end to cyanide-based mining across the state and accountability for those who approved the reintroduction of wet mills last August, despite repeated warnings from the Resistance Committees and the Anti-Cyanide Committee.
In a statement issued Wednesday, the Anti-Cyanide Committee in Kadir Province praised the Talodi community for its stance and urged residents to remain united and continue peaceful escalation until cyanide use is permanently banned in the region.
The protests come amid a declining health crisis in the Takoula mine area, where authorities have reported 23 deaths and 145 cases of severe diarrhea in recent days. The exact cause of the outbreak has not yet been determined.
According to the committee, there are reports of diarrhea, skin infections, and deaths in recent months in Takoula, signs they say point to the dangers of cyanide contamination.
Local authorities have declared a health emergency, imposing restrictions on movement in and out of the city and transferring dozens of patients to Talodi Hospital, which received most of the reported deaths.
Meanwhile, the Health Services Committee in Kadir Province announced a state of maximum alert, instructing security forces to block trucks transporting mining waste from entering Kalugi town to prevent the possible spread of contamination, whether chemical or infectious.
The Anti-Cyanide Committee called on the Federal Ministry of Health to urgently intervene to identify the cause of the outbreak and address the crisis.
It warned that continued negligence poses a direct threat to the lives of citizens, animals, and the entire ecosystem, and reiterated its demand to suspend all cyanide-based mining activities in Kalogi, Talodi, and Al-Liri, holding local and federal authorities fully responsible for any further harm.