“Anger” in Khartoum..Security fires tear gas, and a protester is killed

Demonstrations erupted in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, this afternoon, Saturday The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, which was issued on the twenty-fifth of last October, dissolving the Sovereignty Council and the Council of Ministers and declaring a state of emergency.

The security forces fired tear gas to disperse the protesters. The Central Doctors Committee confirmed the killing of a person in Omdurman and the injury of a large number of bullets in separate areas of Khartoum.

disperse protesters

It also chased the protesters in a number of side streets in Omdurman, where groups gathered to participate in protests condemning the exceptional measures, according to what eyewitnesses told Reuters.

Also, the security forces dispersed a demonstration with tear gas in the Al-Sahafa area, Al-Sitteen Street and Al-Masaa Street, and prevented processions in southern Khartoum.

While demonstrators blocked the streets in Khartoum Bahri with barricades.

Al-Arabiya/Al-Hadath correspondent explained that the protests were confined to some areas of the capital, after the army forces closed most of the bridges that lead to Khartoum, leaving only 3 of them (7 out of 10 closed).

Heavy security deployment

She also added that there is a wide security presence, noting that the security forces closed major streets, including the road leading to the army command and the presidential palace. She pointed out that other demonstrations also took place simultaneously in areas outside the capital, as well as rallies in foreign countries.

In addition, she confirmed that Internet services are still suspended, on phone calls that have not been cut off.

It is noteworthy that these demonstrations came after the coordination of the “resistance committees in Khartoum” called for demonstrations under the name “millions of anger” to bring down the military council, two days after Al-Burhan announced the formation of New Sovereignty Council.

Protest invitations

While the first calls for demonstrations were launched by the Khartoum Resistance Committees on the eighth of this month (November 2021), before the gathering of professionals supported them on the same day, by announcing an escalation schedule.

The schedule began last Tuesday with processions, vigils and the closure of a number of Khartoum roads, to end with the so-called “millions of overthrowing the Military Council”, which is scheduled to start today.

safety of protesters

In conjunction with today’s street action, the United States and the European Union are urging the Sudanese authorities to uphold the right to peaceful protest, preserve freedom of expression, and ensure the safety of protesters.

UN envoy Volker Peretz also urged the security forces to exercise the utmost restraint and respect the right to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression.

In addition, the army called for taking other measures to de-escalate and build confidence, including restoring full freedom to the head of the dissolved government Abdullah Hamdouk releasing political detainees, restoring internet access, and refraining from taking more unilateral measures that contradict the spirit of the transitional partnership.

international condemnation

These calls came after the United States and several European countries condemned yesterday, Friday, the formation of a new Transitional Sovereignty Council, from which representatives of the “Forces of Freedom and Change” coalition, which is demanding the transfer of power to civilians, were excluded.

Washington and these European countries also demanded that Hamdok be returned to power.

It is noteworthy that the Sudanese army chief had announced on Thursday the formation of a new transitional sovereignty council, from which he excluded four representatives of the Forces of Freedom and Change, the civil alliance that emerged from the uprising that toppled Omar al-Bashir in 2019, according to what the official television announced. The formation of the council came also weeks (October 25) after the armed forces announced the dissolution of the government and the previous council, and the arrest of a number of activists and civilian leaders, while Hamdok was placed under house arrest, according to what the UN envoy confirmed more than once, despite Al-Burhan’s denial of the matter.