At least four dead as Sudan military fire on anti-coup demonstrators

At least four people were killed, and 80 injured, as Sudanese military forces fired tear gas and live ammunition at protesters today. Tens of thousands of Sudanese answered the calls by the Sudanese Professionals Association and the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) – the main drivers of the revolution that overthrew the 30-year Al Bashir dictatorship in 2019 – to take to the streets in a mass campaign of civil disobedience and deny any cooperation to the military coup.

The streets in Khartoum and a number of cities across Sudan were filled with tens of thousands of protesters rejecting the coup. The Sudan Central Doctors Committee and medical sources say that at least four people have been killed and more than 80 injured when tear gas and live ammunition was used against civilians. The doctors say that some of the demonstrators have critical injuries that required surgery.

A large number of demonstrators gathered in front of the Sudanese Parliament in Omdurman, and protesters continued to cross the bridges from Khartoum North and Omdurman to Khartoum, which had been blocked to vehicles, on foot, to participate in the rally in front of the General Command of the Sudan Armed Forces in central Khartoum.

Witnesses told Radio Dabanga that a large number of vehicles carrying military forces pursued the demonstrators and tried to remove barricades erected by protestors. Video footage showed military attacks on civilians in various neighbourhoods.

The head of Sudan’s Transitional Sovereignty Council, Lt Gen Abdelfattah El Burhan, has declared a State of Emergency in the country after the military seized power in a dawn coup in Khartoum today.

Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok, his Ministers, as well as the civilian members of the Sovereignty Council have been detained and all organs of civilian government have been suspended.