CAIRO (AP) 鈥� Sudanese security forces shot dead two people Saturday during mass protests against the country's recent military coup, a doctors' union said. The shootings came despite repeated appeals by the West to Sudan's new military rulers to show restraint and allow peaceful protests.
Thousands of Sudanese have taken to the streets, where whistles and drums accompany chants of 鈥渞evolution, revolution鈥� in protest of this week's coup, which is threatening to derail the country鈥檚 fitful transition to democracy.
Pro-democracy groups had called for protests across the country to press demands for re-instating a deposed transitional government and releasing senior political figures from detention.
The United States and the United Nations had warned Sudan's strongman, Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, that they view the military's treatment of the protesters as a test, and called for restraint.
Burhan has claimed that the transition to democracy would continue despite the military takeover, saying he would install a new technocrat government soon. The pro-democracy movement in Sudan fears the military has no intention of easing its grip, and will appoint politicians it can control.
Saturday's protests were likely to increase pressure on the generals who face mounting condemnations from the U.S. and other Western countries to restore a civilian-led government.
Crowds began to gather Saturday afternoon in the capital of Khartoum and its twin city Omdurman, Marchers chanted 鈥淕ive it up, Burhan鈥� and 鈥渞evolution, revolution.鈥� Some held up banners reading, 鈥淕oing backward is impossible.鈥�
The demonstrations were called by the Sudanese Professionals鈥� Association and the so-called Resistance Committees. Both were at the forefront of an uprising that toppled longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir and his Islamist government in 2019.
They demand the dismantling of the now-ruling military council, led by Burhan, and the handover of the government to civilians. They also seek the dismantling paramilitary groups and restructuring the military, intelligence and security agencies. They want officers loyal to al-Bashir to be removed.
The Sudan Doctors Committee, a professional union, said security forces shot dead two people in Omdurman. It said one was shot in his head, and the other in his stomach.
The committee, which is part of the Sudanese Professionals鈥� Association, said security forces used live ammunition against protesters in Omdurman and other places in the capital. It said unspecified number of protesters were also wounded.
Elsewhere, security forces fired tear gas at protesters Saturday as they attempted to cross the Manshia Bridge over the Nile River to reach Khartoum鈥檚 downtown, said Mohammed Yousef al-Mustafa, a spokesman for the professionals鈥� association.
鈥淣o power-sharing mediation with the military council again,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey (the generals) have failed the transition and instated a coup.鈥�
Al-Mustafa spoke with The Associated Press over the phone while he took part in the protest in Khartoum鈥檚 Manshia neighborhood.
Before the start of the protests, security forces had blocked major roads and bridges linking Khartoum鈥檚 neighborhoods. Security was tight downtown and outside the military鈥檚 headquarters, the site of a major sit-in camp in the 2019 uprising
Since the military takeover, there have been daily street protests. With Saturday鈥檚 fatal shooting, the overall number of people killed by the security forces since the coup rose to 11, according to the Sudan Doctors鈥� Committee and activists. At least 170 others have been injured, according to the U.N.
There were fears that security forces may again resort to violence to disperse protesters. Since Monday's coup troops have fired live ammunition, rubber bullets and tear gas at anti-coup demonstrators. They also beat protesters with sticks and whips.
Representatives of the U.N. and the U.S. have urged the military to show restraint.
Late Friday, the U.N. special envoy for Sudan, Volker Perthes, met with Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, a coup leader seen as close to , a paramilitary unit that controls the streets of the capital of Khartoum and played a major role in the coup. Perthes said in a message posted on Twitter that he 鈥渟tressed the need for calm, allowing peaceful protest and avoiding any confrontation鈥� in his talks with Dagalo.
Cl茅ment Nyaletsossi Voule, the U.N. special rapporteur on the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association, also urged security forces to avoid violence against protesters. 鈥淭hey will be held individually accountable for any excessive use of force against protesters. We are monitoring,鈥� he warned.
Burhan has claimed that the takeover was necessary to prevent a civil war, citing what he said were growing divisions among political groups. However, the takeover came less than a month before he was to have handed the leadership of the Sovereign Council, the main decision-making body in Sudan, to a civilian. Such a step would have lessened the military's grip on the country. The council had both civilian and military members.
As part of the coup, Burhan dismissed the council and the transitional government, led by Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, that was in charge of day-to-day affairs. He also imposed a state of emergency across the country and military authorities largely cut off internet and mobile phone services. Internet access remained largely disrupted Saturday, according to internet-access advocacy group NetBlocks.
Burhan installed himself as head of a military council that will rule Sudan until elections in July 2023. In an interview with Russia鈥檚 state-owned Sputnik news agency published Friday, Burhan said he would soon name a new premier who will form a Cabinet that is to share leadership of the country with the armed forces.
鈥淲e have a patriotic duty to lead the people and help them in the transition period until elections are held,鈥� Burhan said in the interview. He said that as long as expected protests are peaceful, 鈥渟ecurity forces will not intervene.鈥�
However, observers said it's doubtful the military will allow a full transition to civilian rule, if only to block civilian oversight of the military's large financial holdings.
Samy Magdy, The Associated Press
