Tear gas fired at ongoing protests

KHARTOUM: Sudanese security forces yesterday fired tear gas at several hundred protesters and chased them down side streets, a witness said, as anti-government protests entered their second month.

Near daily demonstrations set off by a worsening economic crisis have shaken Sudan since December 19. Protesters have called for an end to President Omar al-Bashir’s three-decade rule, blaming him for the country’s problems.

Bashir has blamed the unrest and accompanying violence on foreign “agents” and rebels from the western region of Darfur, claims he repeated yesterday.

In yesterday’s protests demonstrators had blocked Al Arbaeen street, one of the main arteries in Omdurman, across the Nile from the centre of the capital Khartoum. Some raised two fingers in victory signs as tear gas was fired at them.

About 30 trucks carrying security personnel, some in uniform and some in plain clothes, were deployed to the area. Later, smoke could be seen rising above the densely populated streets.

Security forces have used tear gas, stun grenades and live ammunition to disperse protests, witnesses say. They have also rounded up hundreds of opposition figures, activists and demonstrators.

The official death toll stands at 26, including two security agents. Rights groups say at least 40 have died.

Speaking at a Sufi religious celebration in a village in White Nile state, south of Khartoum, Bashir said “infiltrators” were responsible for the death of a doctor killed last week in the Burri neighbourhood of Khartoum, as well as other killings.

The opposition-linked Sudan Doctors’ Committee said at the time that the doctor and a child were shot dead by security forces. A man also died from gunshot wounds sustained in Burri. His funeral became a flashpoint for protests.