By MAWAHIB ABDALLATIF

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Authorities in Sudan on Tuesday conducted a security raid in which they arrested 11 foreigners suspected of planning terror activities.

During the raid, five policemen were killed and several others injured, while four suspects escaped.

A statement published on the official page of the Sudanese intelligence service said that the terrorist group is affiliated with the proscribed Daesh ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) and had reportedly been setting up a local cell made up of 15 foreigners of different nationalities.

Officials say the group had rented a furnished apartment in a building in the suburb of "Jabra", southern Khartoum.

The group opened fire on security officers, authorities say.

A security source said the group could have other members in a number of neighbourhoods and regions of the capital, Khartoum, and parts of the country.

Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok condoled with the family of the slain intelligence service.

“I offer my deepest condolences to the families of the martyrs, who gave their lives defending the stability and people of our country,” he said in a statement.

Hamdok said solidarity among social, political and security forces will help maintain stability and peace in Sudan.

“I call on the security and police institutions to intensify efforts to prevent any attempt to undermine and destabilise our country which is opening up and progressing at all levels.

“I will continue to urge partners and friends to provide support to our unique country, which constitutes a safety valve for the region and the whole world against conspiracies and against creating new hotbeds of terrorism”.

Last June, reports indicated that security agents arrested nine people—four Sudanese and five people of other nationalities—who were suspected of planning to carry out terror-related operations in a number of Arab countries in coordination with Al-Qaeda.

There are that some terrorist groups are exploiting the current situation in Sudan to revive a number of sleeper cells that were formed in the 1990s, when the regime of ousted Omar al-Bashir opened the country’s lands to terrorist figures from a number of Arab countries, including Osama bin Laden, the leader of Al-Qaeda.

During the past months, there have been reports that about four terror cells were dismantled in separate areas of Khartoum. Explosives were recovered during the security operations.

Last February, a video clip circulated by activists on social media showed a group raising a flag near the grain silos in the city of Gedaref, eastern Sudan. The flag looked similar to the one used by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

The group said that it was working to create a new emirate under a single leader for all countries of the world.