2 demonstrators reported killed in Sudan as thousands protest military coup

Sudanese security forces fatally shot two people on Saturday during mass protests against the country's recent military coup, a doctors' union said. The shootings came despite repeated appeals by the West to Sudan's new military rulers to show restraint and allow peaceful protests.

During the protests, thousands of Sudanese marched in the streets, chanting "revolution, revolution" to the sound of whistles and drums, to demonstrate against a military coup earlier this week that is threatening to derail the country's fitful transition to democracy.

Pro-democracy groups had called for mass protest marches across the country to press demands for reinstating a deposed transitional government and releasing senior political figures from detention.

The United States and the United Nations had warned Sudan's strongman, Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, that they view the military's treatment of the protesters as a test and called for restraint.

Burhan has claimed that the transition to democracy would continue despite the military takeover, saying he would install a new technocrat government soon. The pro-democracy movement in Sudan fears the military has no intention of easing its grip, and will appoint politicians it can control.

Clément Nyaletsossi Voule, the UN special rapporteur on the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association, urged security forces to avoid violence against protesters. (Marwan Ali/The Associated Press)

Saturday's protests were likely to increase pressure on the generals, who already face mounting condemnations from the U.S. and other Western countries to restore a civilian-led government.

Protesters demand civilian-led government

Crowds began to gather Saturday afternoon in the capital of Khartoum and its twin city, Omdurman. Marchers chanted "Give it up, Burhan" and "revolution, revolution." Some held up banners reading, "Going backward is impossible."

The demonstrations were called were called by the Sudanese Professionals' Association and the so-called Resistance Committees. Both were at the forefront of an uprising that toppled longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir and his Islamist government in 2019.

A man waves the Sudanese national flag on Saturday as he chants slogans during a protest in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum. (Marwan Ali/The Associated Press)

They demand the dismantling of the now-ruling military council, led by Burhan, and the handover of the government to civilians. They also seek the dismantling of paramilitary groups and the restructuring of military, intelligence and security agencies. They want officers loyal to Bashir to be removed.

The Sudan Doctors Committee, a professional union, said security forces shot dead two people in Omdurman. It said one was shot in his head and the other in his stomach.

A woman chants during a Saturday protest in Khartoum. (Marwan Ali/The Associated Press)

Elsewhere, security forces fired tear gas at protesters on Saturday as they attempted to cross the Manshia Bridge over the Nile River to reach Khartoum's downtown, said Mohammed Yousef al-Mustafa, a spokesperson for the professionals' association.

Before the start of the protests, security forces had blocked major roads and bridges linking Khartoum's neighbourhoods. Security was tight downtown and outside the military's headquarters, the site of a major sit-in camp in the 2019 uprising

Since the military takeover, there have been daily street protests. At least nine people have been killed by security forces' gunfire, according to the Sudan Doctors Committee and activists. At least 170 others have been injured, according to the UN.

There were fears that security forces may again resort to violence to disperse protesters. Since Monday's coup, troops have fired live ammunition, rubber bullets and tear gas at anti-coup demonstrators. They also beat protesters with sticks and whips.

Pressure on military to show restraint

Representatives of the UN and the U.S. have urged the military to show restraint.

Late Friday, the UN special envoy for Sudan, Volker Perthes, met with Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, a coup leader seen as close to Burhan. Dagalo commands the feared Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary unit that controls the streets of the capital of Khartoum and played a major role in the coup.

Since the military takeover, there have been daily street protests in Sudan. (Marwan Ali/The Associated Press)

Perthes said in a message posted on Twitter that he "stressed the need for calm, allowing peaceful protest and avoiding any confrontation" in his talks with Dagalo.

Clément Nyaletsossi Voule, the UN special rapporteur on the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association, also urged security forces to avoid violence against protesters. "They will be held individually accountable for any excessive use of force against protesters. We are monitoring," he warned.

Burhan has claimed that the takeover was necessary to prevent a civil war, citing what he said were growing divisions among political groups. However, the takeover came less than a month before he was to have handed the leadership of the Sovereign Council, the main decision-making body in Sudan, to a civilian. Such a step would have lessened the military's grip on the country. The council had both civilian and military members.

As part of the coup, Burhan dismissed the council and the transitional government, led by Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, that was in charge of day-to-day affairs. He also imposed a state of emergency across the country, and military authorities largely cut off internet and mobile phone services. Internet access remained largely disrupted Saturday, according to internet-access advocacy group NetBlocks.

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