In Sudan, security forces used tear gas against several thousand demonstrators on Thursday. The bridge connections to the capital Khartoum were closed and the telephone connections were cut for the first time since the protests against the military coup on October 25th. Internet connections were also blocked. Police and military patrolled all over Khartoum. Protests have also been reported from other cities.
The demonstrators in Khartoum came within a few hundred meters of the presidential palace, the headquarters of military chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan. Then the demonstrators were pushed back with tear gas by soldiers, police and para-military militias.
According to eyewitness reports, there were similar protests in Madani, south of the capital, as well as in the cities of Kassala and Port Sudan. With their demonstrations, the demonstrators also defied a curfew imposed by the authorities.
Return to the civilian government of the country called for
According to a medical committee, at least 48 people had been killed in the ongoing protests against the military junta in recent weeks. The people are demanding a return to the civilian government of the country. Before the renewed demonstrations on Thursday, new surveillance cameras were installed on the demonstration routes in Khartoum.
The Internet group NetBlocks reported that from the morning onwards, mobile Internet connections were also switched off, through which activists broadcast their actions live and call for demonstrations.
EU and USA condemned the use of “sexual violence”
The last time the Nile bridges were closed in Khartoum was on December 26th when there were demonstrations with tens of thousands of participants. Activists also denounced sexual assault on women during the December 19 protests.
At that time, according to the UN, at least 13 women and girls were victims of rape or group rape. The EU and the US condemned the use of sexual violence “as a weapon to keep women away from demonstrations and to silence their voices”. (SDA)