Sudanese security forces killed at least five protesters in a raid on anti-coup demonstrations on Saturday, as the military reinforced its control by installing a new governing council.
Pro-democracy demonstrations erupted over three weeks after senior general Abdel Fattah al-Burhan deposed the government, arrested civilian leaders, and established a state of emergency.
“Burhan overthrew the revolution. He overturned the civilian side. Yesterday, all over the international news they said they will not confront peaceful protesters. Now no one hit them,” said one of the protesters, Khaled Jumaa.
“People were marching in the streets and they hit us with tear gas. No one threw rocks. No one asked them for anything. They were walking down the street and they were hit with tear gas.”
According to the independent Central Committee for Sudanese Doctors, three of those slain were in east Khartoum and two in Khartoum’s twin city of Omdurman. Four were shot dead, while one died from tear gas asphyxia.
The new fatalities raise the total number of individuals murdered in anti-coup rallies since the military takeover on October 25 to 20.
Meanwhile, according to state media, 39 police officers were “severely wounded” in clashes with protestors.
The police accused demonstrators of storming police stations, claiming that the rallies “began as peaceful but quickly veered off course”. They denied firing “live rounds”, claiming they merely used “minimum force”.
