Sudanese security forces have killed a 27-year-old protester during anti-coup demonstrations in the capital Khartoum, a group of medics reported.
“Mohamed Yousif Ismail … has been killed during the attacks by the security forces on today’s (January 30th) prodemocracy protests in Khartoum, after sustaining a chest trauma,” the Central Committee of Sudan Doctors (CCSD) posted on social media on Sunday.
“The nature of the injury is yet to be identified.”
His death brought to 79 the number of people killed in the crackdown on anti-coup protests since October, the CCSD added.
Defying a ban on protests, thousands of demonstrators marched in the streets of Khartoum and other cities on Sunday denouncing the October military takeover – calling for a fully civilian government to lead the country’s now-stalled transition to democracy.
The coup has upended Sudan’s transition to democratic rule after three decades of international isolation under former President Omar al-Bashir.
The African nation has been on a fragile path to democracy since a popular uprising forced the military to remove al-Bashir and his government in April 2019.
The protests are called by the Sudanese Professionals Association and the Resistance Committees, which were the backbone of the uprising against al-Bashir and relentless anti-coup protests in the past three months.
Protesters were seen carrying Sudanese flags and other flags with photos of protesters reportedly slain by security forces printed on them.
They marched towards the presidential palace, an area in the capital that has seen deadly clashes between protesters and security forces in previous rounds of demonstrations.
Security forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse protesters in at least one location in the capital. At least three people suffered injuries from rubber bullets, activist Nazim Sirag told The Associated Press.
There were protests elsewhere in the country including the eastern city of Port Sudan, western Darfur region and Madani, the capital city of Jazira province, about 135km (85 miles) southeast of Khartoum. Madani saw a huge anti-coup protest last week.
Ongoing crisis
The upheaval in Sudan worsened earlier this month following the resignation of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, who was the civilian face of the transitional government over the past two years.
The prime minister, who was deposed in the October coup only to be reinstated a month later under heavy international pressure, stepped down on January 2 after his efforts to reach a compromise failed.
Sunday’s protests came as the United Nation mission continued its consultations to find a way out of the ongoing crisis.
On Saturday, powerful General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, deputy head of the ruling Sovereign Council and commander of the feared Rapid Support Forces, said they have accepted the UN efforts to resolve the crisis, but that UN envoy Volker Perthes “should be a facilitator not a mediator”.
The Sudanese Professionals Association said Sunday’s demonstrations were “not the end”.
“We will not leave the streets until the fall of the coup regime, achieving a democratic state, and holding to account all the murderers and those who committed crimes against the people,” it said in a statement on Saturday.
