Millions turn out across Sudan to defy military takeover, met with harsh violence from joint security forces
Courtesy: Mada Masr's correspondent
 

At least three protesters were killed and hundreds injured on Saturday, according to the Central Committee of Sudan Doctors, as millions took to the streets in the tri-city capital of Sudan and across the country to demonstrate against military rule and last week’s government takeover by the military and Rapid Support Forces.

Two were killed in Omdurman in the first hours of the demonstrations which began at 1 pm amid the first violent wave of repression from joint-security forces. Another protester who had been shot in the chest died of his injuries later at a hospital in Omdurman. 

The protests, organized by neighborhood resistance committees, were planned to begin in the early afternoon and intensify throughout the day. But protesters were met with a violent crackdown from joint-security forces, according to the central doctors committee. Protesters were treated for gunshot wounds to the head and neck, as well as trauma suffered from assault with batons. In one instance, the committee said, a protester was run over with a military vehicle, while many were treated for exposure to tear gas.

The Central Committee of Sudan Doctors, a group of doctors that has provided support at protests organized by the various civilian groups that participated in the 2018 revolution, detailed casualties in both Omdurman and Khartoum Bahri, as well as in the southeastern state of Gedaref. 

At least 17 people have now been killed since the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces seized power on Monday last week and dissolved the Cabinet and transitional sovereign council, though a senior US official has estimated that 20-30 people have been killed. 

In Khartoum proper on Saturday, clashes were centered around Street 60 as protesters seeking to reinforce the area were met with violence by a deployment of military and Rapid Support Forces personnel who sought to break up the crowds.

Protesters on Saturday were photographed carrying banners bearing images of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, who is under house arrest and under pressure to accept a position at the head of a technocratic government chosen by the military, according to two of his advisors who spoke to Mada Masr on Tuesday night. Some banners called on Hamdok not to step down and bore slogans calling for Hamdok to remain resilient, with one proclaiming, “Better they kill you than keep threatening you. Don’t step down Hamdok.”

Protestors hold a sign reading “Better they kill you than keep threatening you. Don’t step down Hamdok.” - Courtesy: Mada Masr correspondent

In a statement issued on Thursday night, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who announced the military takeover on Monday, said that “Hamdok is the first choice to head the government despite his reservations,” blaming an unnamed “third party” for obstructing a new cabinet formation.

Journalists reporting on the day’s events were subject to harassment and assault in some instances, according to eyewitness accounts. 

Chants were heard by Mada Masr correspondents decrying Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, while images of banners shared on social media showed protesters holding signs that read “the Emirates will not govern us, nor the implementation of Sisi.”

Popular momentum appears to have secured support for the return of a civilian government under Hamdok, with both Darfur Governor Mini Arko Minnawi and the finance minister of the dissolved cabinet Jebril Ibrahim, members of a splinter group that broke away from the Freedom and Change Coalition before the military takeover, announcing their support for the public protests on Saturday.

International pressure has also mounted since Monday to restore Hamdok. On Thursday, United States President Joe Biden released a statement to send an “overwhelming and clear message” to Sudan’s military authorities that “the Sudanese people must be allowed to protest peacefully and the civilian-led transitional government must be restored.”

Biden urged for the immediate release of “all those detained,” who include at least four civilian members of the Cabinet and several civilian members of the Sovereignty Council as well as an estimated 320 members of the main civilian political body from which government members were chosen, the Freedom and Change Coalition.

Biden also called for the restoration of “the institutions associated with the transitional government, in line with the 2019 Constitutional Declaration and the 2020 Juba Peace Agreement.” 

Thus far, the US State Department has spoken with Hamdok and the Sudanese Foreign Minister Maryam Sadig al-Mahdi, while a State Department official was reported on Friday to be leaning on the UAE. Egypt was also reported to be making diplomatic efforts on Friday, speaking both to the head of the Sudanese Armed Forces, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and head of the Rapid Support Forces Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sudan Volker Perthes also said he had spoken with Dagalo on Friday.

Burhan met with Perthes on Wednesday, which the Sudanese Armed Forces newspaper said was “to discuss developments in the current political situation and ways to get out of the crisis in order to achieve stability and peace in the country.” The military outlet also highlighted a similar meeting with the ambassador of Saudi Arabia.

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