Anti-military protests in Sudan continue, 3 protesters killed

KHARTOUM, Sudan

Three people were killed Thursday in Sudan in protests against military rule in various parts of the country, said the Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors (CCSD).

In a statement, the group said the three people were killed in protests held in the cities of Omdurman and Bahri, both near the capital Khartoum, after security forces opened fire at protesters there.

This brings the number of protesters killed since the eruption of anti-military protests last October to 60, it added.

Nationwide protests again erupted in Khartoum and other cities three days after the Sunday resignation of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok.

In Bashdar, central Khartoum, thousands of protesters assembled from various neighborhoods chanted slogans against the October military coup and demanded the restoration of civilian rule in the country.

Access to seats of power cut off

To counter the protests demanding civilian rule, authorities deployed security forces to Khartoum, closing the main roads leading to the presidential palace and army headquarters.

Security forces began checking passing cars before the start of the protests calling for complete civilian rule.

According to an Anadolu Agency reporter on the ground, security forces blocked most of the bridges using shipping containers and closed streets in the center of the capital with concrete barriers and barbed wire to prevent demonstrators from reaching the presidential palace, as well as the headquarters of Gen. Abdel-Fattah al-Burhan, the army commander and head of the Transitional Sovereignty Council.

The Suba Bridge, which connects the city of East Nile and the capital, witnessed massive traffic congestion, angering commuters.

On Wednesday, resistance committees issued a public call to hold a new round of demonstrations in the capital and the rest of the North African country's cities on Thursday to demand full civilian rule and reject what the protesters consider a military coup.

On Sunday, Sudan's transitional prime minister submitted his resignation hours after three people were killed during the protests.

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

Before the Oct. 25 military takeover, Sudan was administered by a sovereign council of military and civilian officials overseeing the transition period until 2023 elections as part of a precarious power-sharing pact between the military and the Forces of Freedom and Change coalition.