Two killed as Sudanese take to the streets to oppose takeover
Two protesters were killed by soldiers as Sudan’s military and pro-democracy demonstrators confronted each other yesterday.
Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets of Khartoum, the capital, and other major cities to demand Sudan’s transition to democratic rule be put back on track.
Army chief Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan and his forces seized power on Monday.
The deaths were in Omdurman, Khartoum’s twin city, according to the Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors, a group linked to the pro-democracy movement.
The US and the UN warned the military against excessive force and the violence took the number of deaths since the takeover to at least 12. About 170 people have been injured.
For Sudan’s pro-democracy forces, yesterday’s turnout was evidence of the extent of popular support for civilian rule.
The protesters demanded the release of dozens of Cabinet ministers, politicians and campaigners detained by the military.
Soldiers sealed off all Nile bridges connecting the capital’s three boroughs – Khartoum, Omdurman and Bahri – to prevent a large gathering near army headquarters.
Authorities also limited the use of mobile phones, with residents complaining they could not receive or make local calls.
But some said they could receive overseas calls.
The internet was cut off on Monday, forcing campaigners to use paper flyers to gather support for yesterday’s demonstrations, while neighbourhood resistance committees relied on word of mouth.
Thousands of troops supported by armoured cars were on the streets of Khartoum from Friday.
Columns of up to 10 army vehicles were seen travelling across the city and positioning themselves at intersections and near assembly points designated by the organisers of yesterday’s marches.
Soldiers have used live ammunition, tear gas, rubber bullets, sticks and whips to disperse protesters.
Soldiers, aided by plainclothes security officers and members of a paramilitary force, have been checking cars and phones and making arbitrary arrests in Khartoum.
The demonstrations were called by the Association of Sudanese Professionals, a loose alliance that was at the centre of street protests that forced the military to remove longtime former president Omar Al Bashir from power in April 2019.
They latest demonstrations followed action by pro-democracy supporters on October 21, the anniversary of an uprising in 1964 that toppled the sixyear regime of career soldier and prime minister Ibrahim Abboud.
Gen Al Burhan announced the military takeover on Monday, saying the army had to act to prevent a civil war.
He dismissed the civilian-led government, declared a nationwide state of emergency and vowed that elections would be held in July 2023, after which the military would hand power to an elected government.
A government of technocrats would run the country until the elections, he said.
Gen Al Burhan, viewed as being among Al Bashir’s most trusted generals, arrested Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and members of his government on Monday.
Mr Hamdok was placed under house arrest a day later, but the others remain in detention at unknown locations.
Gen Al Burhan said on Thursday night that the military was trying to persuade Mr Hamdok, who previously worked as a UN economist, to lead the country’s next government, but without success.
Street protests indicate there is an appetite for a return to civilian rule, while the military talks of elections in 2023