KHARTOUM: Sudanese security forces shot dead a protester Monday as they cracked down on thousands marching against last year’s military coup and the arrest of several pro-democracy activists, medics said.
Regular mass protests have rocked the troubled northeast African nation since an October 25 military takeover led by army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the death on Monday takes the number killed to at least 80.
The power grab derailed a fragile power-sharing agreement between the army and civilians negotiated after the 2019 ouster of longtime ruler Omar al Bashir. On Monday, thousands rallied in the capital Khartoum and its twin city of Omdurman, reporters said, while protests also took place in the eastern city of Port Sudan and in the western Darfur region, according to witnesses.
In Khartoum, protests had begun with crowds waving national flags and carrying red balloons — as the rallies coincided with Valentine’s Day.
“Today is the nation’s love day,” one banner read. Some shouted slogans demanding the authorities release activists who have been arrested, while others carried pictures of protesters killed.
“We are demanding the release of resistance committee members and politicians who were unjustly arrested, and some of whom are facing fabricated charges,” protester Khaled Mohamed said.
But as crowds tried to approach the presidential palace, security forces fired volleys of tear gas canisters.
One protester was killed after he was shot in “the neck and chest by live rounds by coup forces,” the independent Central Committee of Sudan Doctors said. Tear gas was also fired at protesters in Omdurman and North Khartoum, witnesses said.
While Sudan has repeatedly denied opening fire on protesters, Human Rights Watch has quoted witnesses detailing how the security forces have used both “live ammunition” and fired tear gas canisters “directly” at crowds, a tactic that can be deadly at close-quarters.
The authorities have also arrested scores of activists accused of belonging to the “resistance committees” who have been instrumental in organising protests. — AFP
