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Thousands of Sudanese marched in the capital, Khartoum, and other cities against the military coup last October that plunged the African country into political turmoil and aggravated its economic woes.
Wednesday’s protest was the latest in efforts to pressure the ruling generals, whose takeover has triggered near-daily street protests demanding civilian rule.
Called by pro-democracy groups, the demonstrators marched in Khartoum and its twin city of Omdurman amid tight security around the presidential palace, which has seen violent clashes in previous protests.
A medical group said security forces shot dead at least one person when they violently dispersed protesters.
They fired live ammunition and tear gas to disperse protesters in Khartoum and Omdurman, according to the Legitimate Doctors’ Union, which is part of the pro-democracy movement.
There were also rallies elsewhere, including in Gadarif and Port Sudan in the east and the war-ravaged Darfur region in the west.
The army’s takeover upended Sudan’s transition to democracy and also sent the country’s already fragile economy into free fall, with living conditions rapidly deteriorating. A popular uprising forced the military to remove President Omar al-Bashir and his government in April 2019.
Since the coup, a crackdown on protesters has killed more than 90 people, mostly young men, and injured thousands, according to a Sudanese medical group.
The latest protests come on the third anniversary of the beginning of a sit-in outside the military headquarters in Khartoum that accelerated the removal of al-Bashir.
They also coincide with the 37th anniversary of the overthrow of President Jaafar al-Nimeiri in a bloodless coup in 1985 after a popular uprising. At the time, the military quickly handed power to an elected government.
Source: Al Jazeera
