Seven Sudanese killed during anti-coup rallies

KHARTOUM: Security forces shot and killed seven protesters on Monday during rallies against last year’s military coup, medics said, ahead of a visit by US diplomats seeking to revive a transition to civilian rule.

The protesters "were killed by live bullets" by "militias of the putschist military council", anti-coup medics said on the Facebook page of Khartoum state’s health ministry. The killings bring to 67 the death toll of protesters killed since the October 25 coup led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.

The military takeover triggered wide international condemnation and derailed a fragile transition to civilian rule following the April 2019 ouster of longtime autocratic president Omar al-Bashir.

The latest rallies, in Khartoum and Wad Madani to the south, came as US envoy to the Horn of Africa David Satterfield and Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Molly Phee are expected in the capital this week.

Security officers who deployed in large numbers fired volleys of tear gas at protesters heading toward the presidential palace, an AFP correspondent said. Several people were seen suffering breathing difficulties and others bleeding due to wounds by tear gas canisters, the correspondent said.

Sawsan Salah, from the capital’s twin city of Omdurman, said protesters burnt car tyres and carried photos of people killed during other demonstrations since the October 25 coup. In Wad Madani, "around 2,000 people took to the streets as they called for civilian rule," said Emad Mohammed, a witness there. Thousands of protesters demanded that the military return to their barracks and chanted in favour of civilian rule in North Khartoum, witnesses said.