Death toll in Sunday’s anti-government protests in Sudan has reached seven people, while 181 people were wounded, local media reported, citing the country’s Health Ministry.
On Sunday, Al-Arabiya broadcaster reported that unknown snipers opened a fire on civilians and members of the country’s Rapid Support Forces, as thousands of people took to the streets demanding transition of power from the military to a civilian rule. Later that day, the Central Committee of Sudan Doctors said that five people were killed in the protests in the capital city of Khartoum.
SUNA news agency reported that 27 people of those 181 injured suffered gunshot wounds.
Sudan’s Transitional Military Council (TMC) has earlier placed responsibility for all potential consequences of Sunday’s protests on the opposition Forces of Freedom and Change protest movement, which had reportedly called for a “million man” march on Sunday in the cities of Khartoum and Omdurman. A Sputnik correspondent reported that the Sudanese police used tear gas to disperse protesters rallying in the city of Khartoum North.
Months of anti-government protests in Sudan culminated in a military coup on April 11. Then-President Omar Bashir, who had been in power for 30 years, was overthrown and then imprisoned. The TMC came to power and pledged to hold a new election within two years. However, the protests have continued, with demonstrators demanding that the military hand over power to a civilian government.
The situation in the capital of Sudan and in the whole country sharply deteriorated on June 3, when the Sudanese military dispersed part of the protest tent camp in Khartoum, killing more than 100 civilians. The opposition responded with a strike and actions of civil disobedience and called for the transfer of power to a civilian government as soon as possible.
