Tear gas fired at Sudan anti-coup protesters
Sudanese security forces fired tear gas in Khartoum on Sunday at thousands protesting for civilian rule and against a military coup that took place last year, an AFP correspondent said.
Pro-democracy activists have upped calls for protests to restore a transition to civilian rule since the October 25 military takeover led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.
The coup, one of several in Sudan’s post-independence history, derailed a power-sharing arrangement between the army and civilians that had been painstakingly negotiated after the 2019 ouster of longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir.
Sunday’s demonstrations took place in the capital Khartoum, the neighbouring city of Omdurman, Gedaref state in the east, and the northern cities of Atbara and Dongola, according to witnesses.
Sudanese authorities warned protesters against heading towards Khartoum city center as security forces sealed off streets leading to the presidential palace.
But protesters in the capital converged in large numbers as they headed towards the palace and police fired volleys of tear gas when they approached that destination, the correspondent said.
In Omdurman, demonstrators were seen carrying the Sudanese flag and chanting “blood is the path to freedom,” while in Gedaref, protesters demanded the military “go back to the barracks,” according to witnesses.
At least 78 people have been killed and hundreds wounded in the crackdown on anti-coup protests, according to an independent group of medics, while authorities have also rounded up hundreds of pro-democracy activists.
CGTN
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