Sudan protesters vow to keep up rallies against military rule

Thousands take to streets of Khartoum and other cities in demonstrations calling for civilian rule

Protesters in Khartoum set tyres alight, filling the air with black smoke. AP

Sudanese protesters on Monday vowed to continue rallying against military rule, as thousands took to the streets of Sudan’s capital Khartoum and a string of other cities three months after a military takeover ended the rule of former Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok.

Witnesses said police used tear gas on Monday evening to disperse crowds of protesters who headed towards the Nile-side Republican Palace in central Khartoum.

“We demand the same thing every time we go out on the streets: an end to military rule,” said Zoheir Abdel Rahman, a 44-year-old government employee in Khartoum. “We plan a demonstration every week in February, but we will do it every day if we have to.”

Another protester, businesswoman Haifaa Mohammed, 35, voiced the same resolve.

“It does not matter how long it takes, we will continue to demonstrate until are demands are met,” she told The National.

There were similar protests in Khartoum’s twin cities of Umm Durman and Bahri, the Red Sea city of Port Sudan, as well as in Wad Madani, south of the capital, and in the eastern regions of Kassala and Gedaref. Protesters also turned out in West Darfur.

In the capital, some protesters hurled rocks at the security forces and set tyres ablaze, filling the air with black smoke. Others built roadblocks from rubble.

There were no immediate reports of fatalities or injuries in Monday’s protests, the latest in a string of mass rallies that have rocked the country since the October 25 military takeover, led by army chief Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan.

People chant slogans during a protest against last year’s military takeover in Khartoum, Sudan. AP

At least 79 people have been killed in the protests and close to 3,000 have been injured, prompting Sudan’s western backers to make repeated calls for a halt to the use of deadly force against peaceful protesters.

Monday’s protests came two days after hundreds of pro-military demonstrators rallied against the UN, calling for an end to consultations with its special envoy in Khartoum and stakeholders before a national dialogue to find a way out of the country’s political crisis.

The military had initially welcomed the UN initiative, but later said it objected to meddling in Sudan’s domestic affairs by foreign diplomatic missions. It also said it wanted the UN special envoy in Sudan to be a facilitator not a mediator.

Activists claimed the military was behind last week’s pro-military demonstration, saying it was its latest bid to show it enjoys a level of popular support. Many participants in the typically small pro-military demonstrations are those loyal to dictator Omar Al Bashir, whose 29-year regime ended in 2019 following a popular uprising.

The military has also claimed that the protestors are resorting to violence, although activists insist their protests are peaceful. A police general was stabbed to death during a protest last month in Khartoum in unclear circumstances.

The pro-democracy groups behind the recent protests are adamant that the military leave politics altogether — a tall order in a country where the army ruled for more than 50 years following independence in 1956.

Sudan’s military takeover has drawn strong condemnation from western backers, with the US and the World Bank compounding the country’s economic woes by suspending hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of aid.

Additional reporting by AFP