Thousands demand full civilian rule in Sudan

KHARTOUM, Sudan

Thousands of protesters staged rallies in Sudan on Saturday to demand the handover of power to civilians.

Protesters raised banners calling for full civilian rule, amid chants against the military, according to an Anadolu Agency reporter on the ground.

Similar protesters were reported in the cities of Atbara, Port Sudan, Medani, Nyala and Elobied.

Eyewitnesses said Sudanese police used tear gas canisters and stun bombs to disperse protesters in Khartoum.

There were no reports of injuries.

Ahmed Abul Raheem, a protester, said thousands of demonstrators have reached the area near the presidential palace in Khartoum.

“We aim to stage a sit-in in front of the presidential palace, no matter the cost is,” Abul Raheem told Anadolu Agency.

“We are ready for any sacrifices to bring down this military regime” he said.

Ahead of Saturday’s rallies, telecommunications companies disrupted internet service across the country since early morning on Saturday, according to Sudanese activists.

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

Hamdok, however, was reinstated on Nov. 21 under an agreement with Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the Sudanese army chief, in a move that aimed to resolve a political crisis that threatened to undermine Sudan's transition to democracy.

While countries and regional and international organizations, including the United Nations, welcomed the agreement, Sudanese political and civil forces rejected it, considering it an "attempt to legitimize the coup."

Before the military takeover, Sudan was administered by a sovereign council of military and civilian officials overseeing the transition period until elections in 2023 as part of a precarious power-sharing pact between the military and the Forces of Freedom and Change coalition.