Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Khartoum on Saturday, after nine people were killed on Thursday in demonstrations against the country’s ruling generals.
Video showed a police armoured vehicle firing tear gas towards the protesters, who used shields and threw stones in retaliation at the vehicles.
The protests come amid international outcry over the killing of the protesters during mass rallies against October’s military takeover, which derailed Sudan’s democratic transition and plunged the country into an economic and political crisis.
“I’m here to restore the transition to a civilian rule and to end the military coup and I am here to say that we are insisting on our stance — no power-sharing, no negotiations, no compromise, and the military has to go back to their barracks and to restore the civilian government,” said protester Aisha Al Samany.
Sudanese military authorities have met the protests with deadly force, killing 113 people, including 18 children, since October.
The Sudan’s Doctors Committee, a medical group that monitors casualties from demonstrations, said security forces shot and killed nine people, including a child, in or near Khartoum during the rallies on Thursday.
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Anti-military protesters march in Khartoum, Sudan, a day after nine people were killed in demonstrations against the country’s ruling generals. AP -
Anti-military protesters march in Khartoum. AP -
A woman serves tea to a Sudanese protester. AFP -
A wounded Sudanese demonstrator follows a protester carrying a pot of food. AFP -
Sudanese demonstrators perform the Friday noon prayers in southern Khartoum. AFP -
Blocks of brick are used to make barricades. AFP -
Hundreds of activists mass near the presidential palace and other areas of the capital. AFP -
A Sudanese protester carries a placard which reads: 'Angry without borders, Eid is here and the martyr is absent' as he takes part in a rally in southern Khartoum. AFP -
Protesters take part in a rally against military rule, after the last coup and to commemorate the third anniversary of revolution, in Khartoum, Sudan. Reuters -
A protester holds a placard reading 'Barari Lions'. Reuters -
Sudanese security forces fired tear gas on Friday to disperse the hundreds of anti-military protesters. Reuters -
Protesters try to block the road during a rally against military rule in Khartoum. Reuters -
A sit-in protest. Reuters -
The actions of Sudan’s security forces against protesters have been condemned. Reuters -
The pro-democracy protesters remain determined to end the rule of the generals. Reuters
After Thursday’s violence, the UN, the African Union and the regional IGAD group said they condemned “in the strongest terms possible” the actions of Sudan’s security forces against protesters.
The three organisations also expressed “disappointment” over the violence and what they said was a lack of accountability.
For months, the three have been trying to arrange negotiations between political groups in Sudan to find a way out of the political crisis. But they have made little progress so far.
UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet said she was “alarmed” at the killings.
“In no case is force permissible to dissuade or intimidate protesters from exercising their rights to freedom of expression and of peaceful assembly, or to threaten them with harm for doing so.” Ms Bachelet said. “Lethal force is a measure of last resort and only in cases where there is an imminent threat to life or of serious injury.”
