Seven anti-coup protesters killed in Sudan mass rallies

KHARTOUM: At least seven Sudanese demonstrators were killed on Thursday as security forces sought to quash mass rallies of protesters demanding an end to military rule, pro-democracy medics said.

In one of the most violent days this year in an ongoing crackdown on the anti-coup movement, AFP correspondents reported security forces firing tear gas and stun grenades to disperse tens of thousands of protesters.

"Even if we die, the military will not rule us," protesters chanted, urging the reversal of an October military coup by army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan that prompted foreign governments to slash aid, deepening a chronic economic crisis.

At least four of the six killed were shot, two in the chest, another in the head, and one in the back, the medics said, raising the overall death toll to 109 from protest-related violence since October. "Down with Burhan’s rule," crowds chanted, with protests and violence flaring in both the capital Khartoum and its suburbs, including the twin city of Omdurman.