Protester killed in Sudan rallies on military coup anniversary

Security forces use tear gas to disperse protesters approaching presidential palace in Khartoum

Protesters march during a rally against military rule in Khartoum, Sudan, on Tuesday. Reuters

A protester was killed when he was hit by a security forces vehicle during street rallies in Sudan on Tuesday, a medical group aligned with the opposition said.

The demonstrations marked the first anniversary of the military coup that upended the country’s democratic transition.

The Central Sudan Doctors Association said the victim, Abul Abdel Wahab, 20, died in Omdurman, Khartoum's twin city.

The association is known for thoroughly counting victims of political violence in Sudan in recent years.

"I dream of hearing the last gunfire shot in my country, even if it targets me," Abdel Wahab wrote on Facebook on Monday night.

In another post, he bade farewell to his friends and family and asked for forgiveness if he had wronged any of them.

"Tomorrow will not be new to us," he wrote. "We will wage a battle that history will witness. Remember us if we achieve victory."

Elsewhere in Khartoum, police used tear gas to disperse protesters approaching the Nile-side presidential palace in the heart of the Sudanese capital.

Soldiers and paramilitary units had been posted since early on Tuesday morning in anticipation of the anti-military rallies.

Waving Sudanese flags, the protesters chanted: “Soldiers, go back to the barracks” and “No partnership, no negotiation with the putschists".

Internet monitoring service NetBlocks reported “a nation-scale internet disruption in Sudan” before the protests, a measure often taken in the past by authorities on days when large demonstrations were planned.

Activists say the internet disruptions are designed to hamper attempts by protesters to organise and to help cover up human rights abuses.

At least 119 protesters have now been killed and about 6,000 injured since the coup a year ago. At least 30 people were injured in the last anti-military rallies in Khartoum on Friday.

One year on from Sudan coup - in pictures

Zahra Hussein (R), a nine-year-old Sudanese girl who dropped out of school for financial reasons, poses for a picture with her brother at their home in the village of Ed Moussa in Sudan's eastern state of Kassala, on September 27, 2022. - There are nearly seven million children in Sudan who no longer go to school, a victim of what aid agencies have warned is a "generational catastrophe". Children in the country have for years faced mounting difficulties gaining access to proper education, especially in rural areas. Sudan is already one of the world's poorest countries, plagued by political instability, droughts, hunger and conflict, with an adult literacy rate of only around 60 percent according to the World Bank. AFP

Abukk Sebit, 25, looks from her balcony after working to help financially her family in Sudan, at Ain Shams district area in Cairo, Egypt September 13, 2022. Reuters

Mostafa waits for the bus before leaving for Egypt in Khartoum, Sudan September 24, 2022. Reuters

Abdalla Ibrahim, the Sudanese owner of a coffee shop and father of seven, looks on as he sits behind a pot on a fire in the village of Gosla in Sudan's eastern state of Kassala, on September 27, 2022. There are nearly seven million children in Sudan who no longer go to school, a victim of what aid agencies have warned is a "generational catastrophe". Children in the country have for years faced mounting difficulties gaining access to proper education, especially in rural areas. Sudan is already one of the world's poorest countries, plagued by political instability, droughts, hunger and conflict, with an adult literacy rate of only around 60 percent according to the World Bank. AFP

Othman Abubakr, a Sudanese day labourer who has nine children, poses for a picture in the village of Wad Sharifai in Sudan's eastern state of Kassala on September 27, 2022. There are nearly seven million children in Sudan who no longer go to school, a victim of what aid agencies have warned is a "generational catastrophe". Children in the country have for years faced mounting difficulties gaining access to proper education, especially in rural areas. Sudan is already one of the world's poorest countries, plagued by political instability, droughts, hunger and conflict, with an adult literacy rate of only around 60 percent according to the World Bank. AFP

Ohaj Soliman, a 43-year-old Sudanese day labourer who put his children to work, poses for a picture during an interview with AFP in the village of Gosla in Sudan's eastern state of Kassala, on September 27, 2022. There are nearly seven million children in Sudan who no longer go to school, a victim of what aid agencies have warned is a "generational catastrophe". Children in the country have for years faced mounting difficulties gaining access to proper education, especially in rural areas. Sudan is already one of the world's poorest countries, plagued by political instability, droughts, hunger and conflict, with an adult literacy rate of only around 60 percent according to the World Bank. AFP

Malaz Al-Bakr Ibrahim, 23, who has worked as a babysitter in Egypt since 2020 because of the economic and political situation in Sudan, poses for a photograph at Ain Shams district area in Cairo, Egypt September 13, 2022. Reuters

Abukk Sebit, 25 years old, poses with her children after working to help her family in Sudan financially at Ain Shams district area in Cairo, Egypt September 13, 2022. Reuters

Abukk Sebit, 25 years old, prepares food before going to work to help her family in Sudan financially at Ain Shams district area in Cairo, Egypt September 13, 2022. Reuters

General view of a Sudanese coffee shop, where the number of Sudanese clients has increased in recent years after the economic and political conditions in their country deteriorated, at Ain Shams district area in Cairo, Egypt September 13, 2022. Reuters

Sudanese protesters rally against the October 2021 military coup which has led to deaths and scores of arrests of demonstrators, in Khartoum, Sudan, Monday, February 28, 2022. Since the coup, more than 80 people, mostly young men, have been killed and over 2,600 others injured in the protests, according to a Sudanese medical group. AP Photo

A man flashes the victory sign during a protest to denounce the October 2021 military coup, in Khartoum, Sudan, Jan. 9, 2022. Since the coup, security forces launched a deadly crackdown on protesters. Many activists were taken from their homes or snatched from the streets, according to documents he provided to The Associated Press. Around 80 people, mostly young men, were killed and over 2,200 others were wounded in the protests since the coup, according to a Sundanese medical group. AP Photo

A Sudanese protester holds a painting of a person who reportedly died in a previous rally during a protest, in Khartoum, Sudan, 20 January 2022. Sudanese protesters rallied against the killing of at least 70 protests in crackdown against pro-democracy since the beginning of the military coup on 25 October 2021. The protest was organized as the US Assistant Secretary of State Molly Phee and US special envoy for the Horn of Africa David Satterfield visit Khartoum to meet separately with pro-democracy activists and military leaders to put an end to the crisis in the country. EPA

A boy draws on the street in front of a barricade during a two-day general strike and civil disobedience campaign in response to demonstrators' deaths against military takeover on October 25, 2021, in Khartoum, Sudan January 18, 2022. Reuters

A Sudanese demonstrator waves a national flag during a protest against the October 2021 military coup, in the capital Khartoum, on January 13, 2022. The demonstrations which converged from several parts of Khartoum came only days after the United Nations launched a bid to facilitate talks between Sudanese factions. AFP

Sudanese protesters take to the streets of the capital Khartoum as they rally against the October 2021 military coup, on January 13, 2022. The demonstrations which converged from several parts of Khartoum came only days after the United Nations launched a bid to facilitate talks between Sudanese factions. AFP

Sudanese protesters take cover as security forces fire tear gas during clashes with security forces at an anti-coup protest, in Khartoum, Sudan, 09 January 2022. Security forces fired tear gas to disperse protesters gathering in Khartoum and attempting to march towards the presidential palace, as part of the continuing protesting movement against a military coup in October 2021. The protest was organized a day after the UN envoy for Sudan said the international group will invite different parties for talks in Sudan to end the crisis. EPA

A Sudanese protester attempts to throw back a tear gas canister during clashes with security forces at an anti-coup protest, in Khartoum, Sudan, 09 January 2022. Security forces fired tear gas to disperse protesters gathering in Khartoum and attempting to march towards the presidential palace, as part of the continuing protesting movement against a military coup in October 2021. The protest was organized a day after the UN envoy for Sudan said the international group will invite different parties for talks in Sudan to end the crisis. EPA

Sudanese protesters take cover during clashes with security forces at an anti-coup protest, in Khartoum, Sudan, 09 January 2022. Security forces fired tear gas to disperse protesters gathering in Khartoum and attempting to march towards the presidential palace, as part of the continuing protesting movement against a military coup in October 2021. The protest was organized a day after the UN envoy for Sudan said the international group will invite different parties for talks in Sudan to end the crisis. EPA

Sudanese protesters take cover as security forces fire tear gas during clashes with security forces at an anti-coup protest, in Khartoum, Sudan, 09 January 2022. Security forces fired tear gas to disperse protesters gathering in Khartoum and attempting to march towards the presidential palace, as part of the continuing protesting movement against a military coup in October 2021. The protest was organized a day after the UN envoy for Sudan said the international group will invite different parties for talks in Sudan to end the crisis. EPA

The troops also sealed off Nile bridges linking the three towns that make up the Greater Khartoum area — Khartoum, Bahri and Omdurman — to prevent large numbers of protesters from gathering.

Authorities also ordered government offices, schools, banks and universities to close for the day.

The resistance committees, grass roots pro-democracy groups, described the demonstrations planned on October 25 as a “million-man protest” and a “continuation of the courageous struggle”.

“It will be staged under the slogan of ‘bring down the coup’ and will head to the presidential palace,” the group said.

The October 25 takeover ended a partnership between the military and the pro-democracy forces behind mass street protests in late 2018 and early 2019 that toppled dictator Omar Al Bashir’s 29-year rule.

A vast nation of 44 million people, Sudan has experienced unrest in its outlying regions since the takeover, including in the Blue Nile and Darfur regions.

The deadly violence has left at least 600 dead since January and displaced tens of thousands, the UN reported.

Sudan has also been gripped by the worst economic crisis in living memory after the West suspended billions of dollars’ worth of aid and debt forgiveness following the takeover.

Sudan's military ruler Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan has said the takeover was necessary to spare Sudan from civil war. AP

It is suffering from three-digit inflation and chronic food shortages, with a third of its population now experiencing hunger — a rise of 50 per cent over 2021, according to the World Food Programme.

The cost of food staples has also soared by 137 per cent in one year, which the WFP says has forced Sudanese to spend “more than two thirds of their income on food alone, leaving little money to cover other needs”.

Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan, the army chief who led the military takeover and is now the head of state, insists that it was necessary to spare the country from civil war and restore the prestige of the armed forces.

But Gen Al Burhan has so far failed to form a government.

His repeated assertions that the military was prepared to step aside and let civilians name a head of state and a prime minister have been hedged by his suggestions that the army would remain as the source of ultimate power in Sudan, assuming the role of guardian and protector of the nation.

The general has also moved or chose not to challenge the reinstatement of thousands of Al Bashir supporters in government jobs and the judiciary from which they were purged.

He has also allowed them to engage in political activity, in what is widely interpreted as a reversal of the uprising against the dictator.

Gen Al Burhan has also dismissed a state, post-uprising commission mandated to dismantle Al Bashir's legacy.