At least four Sudanese protesters were shot dead by security forces on Thursday amid fresh protests against the coup. Dozens were injured. This is reported by the Sudan Central Doctors Committee, a cooperative association of doctors, according to international news agencies. Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets across Sudan for days to protest against the military coup.
Security forces reportedly fired tear gas and stun grenades at protesters in the Sudanese capital Khartoum and the nearby towns of Omdurman and Bahri. At least three of the four fatalities died in Omdurman, according to the doctors’ committee. Omdurman is located next to the capital, on the other bank of the Nile. Protesters marched to the presidential palace in Khartoum, but most bridges to the capital were blocked with shipping containers, among other things. “No to military force,” protesters chanted, according to AFP news agency. And: “Soldiers belong in the barracks.”
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No free elections, regular protests
It is the eleventh time that people have taken to the streets to express their dissatisfaction with the coup d’état by Sudanese soldiers. At the end of October, soldiers arrested almost all members of the Sudanese government, including Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok. Free elections should have been held in November, but the military prevented this. They feared, among other things, that they would have to sacrifice economic advantages. Sudanese protesters demanded that the army cease to play a role in the government. Since then, protests have been held regularly in various cities.
Thursday’s protests were accompanied by a major power outage of the mobile internet. According to interest group NetBlocs, this is a common tactic of the authorities to make communication and sharing images more difficult, reports AP news agency. It is also alleged that equipment from Sudanese news channels has been seized by military troops and journalists have been beaten up.
The total death toll from the demonstrations against the coup is now at least 52 dead.
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