Sudanese protesters block border road with Egypt

KHARTOUM, Sudan

Fresh protests erupted in Sudan on Sunday to demand full civilian rule, with protesters blocking the main land road with Egypt.

Protesters in the Northern State blocked the Sheryan al-Shimal road between Sudan and Egypt in protest of what they call the Egyptian government’s support for the military takeover in Sudan, according to an Anadolu Agency reporter.

“We will fully block the road between the two countries and stop the Sudanese exports to Egypt,” the resistance committees, which led protests against former President Omar al-Bashir, said in a statement.

“Roads will be shut from both River Nile State and the Northern State, including the road linking Port Sudan with Khartoum to the south and with Egypt in the north,” the statement added.

In the capital Khartoum, thousands of protesters chanted slogans against the military and called for the accountability of demonstrators killed by security forces.

According to local medics, more than 70 protesters were killed in protests against the military takeover in Sudan since October.

“The military rulers believe that the protests will decline day by day, but they will not as the world sees now,” Hussein Adam, a protester near the presidential palace in Khartoum, told Anadolu Agency.

Sudan has been in turmoil since Oct. 25, 2021, when the military dismissed Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok's transitional government and declared a state of emergency.

Prior to the military takeover, Sudan was governed by a sovereign council of military and civilian officials tasked with overseeing the transition period until elections in 2023.

Hamdok was reinstated on Nov. 21 following an agreement, but protesters denounced the deal, insisting on the removal of any military influence over the transitional governing coalition. He resigned on Jan. 2, citing a political deadlock.