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Sudanese security forces fired tear gas on protesters in the capital Khartoum on Saturday to disperse tens of thousands of protesters across the Sudanese country to denounce the October coup.
This is the 10th day of major protests, which continue with protests even after Abdallah Hamdo reset as Prime Minister on 21 November. Demonstrators have demanded that the military not play any role in the government during the transition to free elections.
Authorities took to the streets as security officials tightened security in the capital, spreading troops and closing all bridges over the Nile River, which connects Khartoum with its twin city of Omdurman and Bahri district, the state news agency SUNA reported.
Demonstrators demanded that soldiers “return to the barracks” and call for a transition to civilian power, while others waved flags, played drums, danced and shouted.
An AFP reporter saw people being evacuated by protesters.
The Medical Commission, which is part of the pro-democracy movement, said security forces fired tear gas at hospitals, doctors and even the wounded.
In Khartoum, marches began in various places, from where protesters gathered at the presidential palace. Rallies also began in other cities, including Wad Madani and Atbara.
Authorities warned protesters of approaching “independent and strategic” areas of central Khartoum, referring to major government buildings and key institutions.
The city’s security commission said Sudanese forces would “deal with chaos and violations,” SUNA reported.
“Moving away from peace of mind, approaching and breaking the sovereign and strategic sites of central Khartoum is a violation of the law,” SUNA reported, citing a provincial security coordination committee.
Reporting from Khartoum, Al Jazeera’s Mohamed Vall said a protest coming from south Khartoum to the presidential palace had been “frustrated and dispersed by security forces”.
“Hundreds of people … cannot reach central Khartoum because the roads are completely closed and there is a strong presence of security forces and police,” Vall said.
“We expect another wave [of protests] From the south of Khartoum, this is the only area directly connected to the area where the presidential palace is located, ”he added.
Last weekend, security forces violently dispersed when protesters tried to sit next to the presidential palace.
At least three protesters were killed and more than 300 were injured on Sunday.
The UN said there had also been allegations of sexual violence, including rape by security forces against female protesters and gang rape.
Ahead of Saturday’s protests, activists complained that Internet access on Khartoum’s phones had been disrupted, a tactic used by the generals when they seized power on October 25.
The NetBlocks promoters team said Sudan was suffering from mobile internet disruptions on Saturday morning.
“The mechanism seems to be similar to or similar to that used in the aftermath of the October coup,” Alp Toker, the group’s director, told The Associated Press.
The government did not comment on the disruptions.
Since the ouster of Omar al-Bashir in April 2019, the military and civilian political parties, known as the Coalition for Freedom and Change (FFC), have shared power.
October’s military control, however, overturned and led to a fragile transition to democratic government ruthless street demonstrations Across Sudan. At least 47 people have been killed and hundreds injured in protests, according to a Sudanese medical team.
Civil parties and neighborhood resistance committees have since staged widespread protests to demand full civilians, under the slogan “no negotiations, no cooperation, no legitimacy.”
Hamdo, a former UN official seen as the civilian face of the Sudanese transitional government, was reinstated last month amid international pressure in an agreement calling for an independent technocratic cabinet in military control led by him.
That deal, however, was over discard at the hands of the pro-democracy movement, which demands the surrender of power to a fully civilian government that will be in charge of leading the transition.
The Prime Minister is continuing talks to get out of the political stalemate. He met with leaders of the country’s largest Umma Party on Friday, his office said.
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