Darfur: Nine people killed in clashes with security service

In Darfur, an upsurge in protests yesterday resulted in violence and the death of nine people, including a child, in various towns. People tried to release political detainees from NISS officers.

Seven people were killed and dozens were wounded in a shooting by security officers in Zalingei during their celebration of the fall of President Al Bashir yesterday. 37 people were wounded in the shooting by members of the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS).

El Shafee Abdallah, the coordinator of the Central Darfur camps for displaced people, told Radio Dabanga that a large number of displaced people took to the streets of the state capital on Thursday morning. This happened prior to the statement of the army broadcast on Sudanese state television, which was announced in the early morning but aired nationwide in the afternoon.

The people went out on the streets to celebrate the fall of the regime and former president Omar Al Bashir. When they reached the offices of the security apparatus, officers shot dead six people, including a 12-year-old boy, El Shafee Abdallah reported.

“The Sudan Armed Forces intervened afterwards and exchanged fire with the security forces. An army lieutenant was killed […] The celebration then turned into a demonstration against Minister of Defence Ahmed Awad Ibn Auf and in solidarity with the sit-in outside of the General Command in Khartoum.”

On Tuesday, displaced people of Hamidiya and Khamsa Dagayeg camps in Central Darfur went out in a mass demonstration against the regime and former president Al Bashir.

Since the sit-in started outside the military headquarters in Khartoum on Saturday April 6, in an attempt by demonstrators and organisers of the protests including the signatories of the Declaration of Freedom and Change, 35 people were killed from action by security forces and 'shadow battalions' (armed men in plain clothes), according to the Central Sudanese Doctors’ Committee yesterday.

End February, the death toll of people kille during the demonstrations since they erupted on December 19 was estimated to be at least 50 people according to Human Rights Watch and activists in Sudan.

Release of detainees

In North Darfur, a resident of El Fasher died in front of the security forces’ office after they shot him as people tried to free detainees in the cells, on Thursday morning.

People gathered at the office of the NISS in the state capital to demand the release of the political detainees. A clash ensued, causing dozens of wounded including some people who sustained serious injuries and were transferred to El Fasher Teaching Hospital.

Soldiers of the Sudan Armed Forces managed to intervene and take over the NISS office, announcing that protesters will be protected.

In Nyala, the capital of South Darfur, the NISS offices were the scene of another crowd trying to release the detainees. The security officers used gunfire to disperse a crowd, causing injuries to dozens of people whom were transferred to Nyala Teaching Hospital.

The Sudanese Defence Minister and Vice-President, Lt Gen Awad Ahmed Ibn Auf, announced in a statement on Sudan TV yesterday afternoon that all political prisoners will be released immediately. He said that power has been seized by a military council which “will supervise for a two-year period” in the run-up to elections. Ibn Auf assumed the position of interim president yesterday, which sparked demonstrators into continuing their uprising to demand a transitional government supported by all citizens.