KHARTOUM (Reuters) – Sudanese security forces on Thursday killed three people and used tear gas to disperse large protests denouncing the rule of the gun on the streets of the capital Khartoum and other towns across the country, report doctors and witnesses.
At least 60 people were killed in the repression carried out by the security forces against the vast protest movement provoked by the military coup of last October, a putsch which interrupted the steps started towards democracy.
According to an association of doctors close to the protest, the three people killed Thursday are demonstrators who took part in the rallies organized in the cities of Omdourman and Barhi, located near Khartoum, on the opposite bank of the Nile.
Once again, protesters tried to reach the presidential palace in central Khartoum in order to increase pressure on the weapon, whose coup d’état last fall broke the power-sharing agreement sealed during the period of transition following the fall of President Omar el Bchir in 2019.
The army presents its putsch as a necessity to stabilize the country during the period of transition, ensuring that peaceful protests are allowed but that the troublemakers will be held to account.
In Omdurman, where several demonstrators were killed during the past week, a witness said that the security forces opened fire with real bullets, in addition to launching tear gas. Armored vehicles deliberately struck several demonstrators, he added.
Police said the rallies turned violent, with some protesters “assaulting” security forces, injuring several in their ranks.
In a statement, she said three people have been arrested for the murder of two Omdurman citizens. A total of 60 arrests were made, she said.
(Report Nafisa Eltahir, Yasmin Hussein and Aidan Lewis; French version Jean Terzian)
by Nafisa Eltahir