Sudan anti-coup protesters rally as army tightens grip
Sudanese security forces yesterday shot dead at least one protester in a crackdown on anti-coup demonstrations, medics said, after the military tightened its grip by forming a new ruling council.
The pro-democracy protests come nearly three weeks after top general Abdel Fattah al-Burhan ousted the government, detained the civilian leadership and declared a state of emergency.
"One protester was killed in Omdurman by the bullets of the putschist military council," the Central Committee for Sudanese Doctors said in a statement referring to security forces.
Other demonstrators in Khartoum's twin city were wounded by "live rounds", it added. An AFP correspondent reported hearing the sound of gunfire as well at a protest in east Khartoum.
Tear gas was also fired at many protests in Khartoum and neighbouring cities as security forces sought to disperse the demonstrations, witnesses and an AFP correspondent there said.
"No, no to military rule", "Civilian (rule) is the people's choice", the protesters in southern Khartoum shouted.
Thousands rallied nationwide, with protests taking place in the cities of Atbara, Wad Madani as well as in the central state of North Kordofan and in Port Sudan city and Kassala state, witnesses said.
The military's October 25 takeover drew widespread international condemnation, as did a deadly crackdown on street demonstrations by people demanding it restore the country's democratic transition.
Any hopes the demonstrators had that the military would back down were dashed Thursday, when Burhan named himself as the head of a new ruling Sovereign Council that excludes the country's main civilian bloc, triggering more condemnation from the West.
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