Protesters face tear gas, bullets to oppose Sudan coup

KHARTOUM • Five protesters were killed on Saturday as huge crowds defied gunfire and tear gas in Sudan's capital Khartoum and other cities to rally against a military takeover, said witnesses and medics.

The protests came two days after army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan announced a new ruling council that excludes the civilian coalition the military had been sharing power with since 2019, hardening opposition among pro-democracy groups to the Oct 25 coup.

In a sign that the authorities may be stepping up efforts to quash a campaign of planned protests and civil disobedience, security forces moved to disperse protesters as soon as they gathered in the early afternoon. They had previously waited until later in the day.

"People were surprised that they fired tear gas so early," said one protester in Omdurman across the Nile from central Khartoum, adding that demonstrators retreated, barricaded streets, and then reassembled. Most dispersed of their own accord around sunset.

Witnesses estimated the numbers around Khartoum to be in the tens of thousands, with crowds in other cities bringing the total nationwide to hundreds of thousands. "The revolutionaries have nothing but peacefulness and are calling for democracy and bringing back civilian rule," said Mr Mohamed Hamed, a protester in Khartoum who held up the cases of two of the bullets he said were being used against protesters.

The Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors, which is aligned with the protest movement, said demonstrations were "facing excessive repression using all forms of force including live bullets".

In Khartoum and its twin cities of Omdurman and Khartoum North, four people were killed by live fire and one after suffocating from tear gas, the committee said.

Sudanese police said they did not use firearms during the protests. They said 39 policemen were injured and stations were attacked, triggering arrests.

The military takeover upended a transition towards democracy that began after the uprising that toppled autocrat Omar al-Bashir in 2019. Security forces detained officials appointed under a power-sharing arrangement between the military and civilian groups. Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok was put under house arrest.

Mobile Internet services have remained cut in Sudan since the coup. Mr Burhan has denied staging a coup, saying the army moved to correct the transition and accusing civilian groups of inciting unrest.

REUTERS