KHARTOUM —
Sudanese shuttered
shops and barricaded streets with burning tires and rocks Tuesday, staging
angry rallies to protest against one of the bloodiest days since a coup
derailed the country's democratic transition.
اضافة اعلان
Security forces on Monday opened fire
killing at least seven people as thousands marched against the army's October
25 takeover, taking the total number killed in a crackdown since the coup to
71, according to medics.
"No, no to military rule,"
protesters chanted Tuesday in southern Blue Nile state, where some carried
banners daubed with the slogan "No to killing peaceful protesters",
said witness Omar Eissa.
The protests come as Washington ramps up
pressure in a bid to broker an end to the months-long crisis in the
northeast African nation, with top US diplomats expected to arrive in the
capital Khartoum for talks.
Sudan's main civilian bloc, the Forces for
Freedom and Change, called for two days of civil disobedience to begin on
Tuesday.
"Shop closed for mourning," signs
read at Khartoum's sprawling Sajane construction supplies market. One of the
merchants, Othman el-Sherif, was among those shot dead on Monday.
'Violent tactics'
Protesters — sometimes numbering in the tens
of thousands — have regularly taken to the streets since the coup led by
General
Abdel Fattah al-Burhan nearly three months ago.
The military power grab derailed a fragile
transition to civilian rule following the April 2019 ouster of autocrat Omar
al-Bashir, with prime minister Abdalla Hamdok resigning earlier this month
warning that Sudan was at a "dangerous crossroads threatening its very
survival".
The UN special representative
Volker Perthes
condemned the use of live ammunition on Monday, while the US embassy criticized
the "violent tactics of Sudanese security forces," the latest such
appeals by world powers.
On Tuesday, police fired tear gas at dozens
of protesters setting up roadblocks in east Khartoum, an AFP correspondent
said.
"We took to the streets to express our
opinion peacefully but the military forces confronted us with live
bullets," said protester Tarek Hassan.
"We call on all the Sudanese people,
and to all the free revolutionaries, to barricade all the streets to announce
the civil disobedience until the putschists fall."
Outside the capital, hundreds of protesters
also staged demonstrations in other cities, including in the states of Blue
Nile and Kassala in the east, witnesses said.
Probe ordered into killings
Burhan on Tuesday formed a fact-finding
committee to probe Monday's violence, with its findings to be submitted within
72 hours, Sudan's ruling Sovereign Council said in a statement.
It comes as US Assistant Secretary of State
Molly Phee and special envoy for the Horn of Africa, David Satterfield, were
expected in Khartoum, where they would "reiterate our call for security
forces to end violence and respect freedom of expression and peaceful
assembly," State Department spokesman Ned Price said.
Sudan's authorities have repeatedly denied
using live ammunition against demonstrators, and insist scores of security
personnel have been wounded during protests. A police general was stabbed to
death last week.
Police on Monday said they had used
"the least force" to counter the protests, in which about 50 police
personnel were also wounded.
On Tuesday the "Friends of Sudan" —
a group of Western and Arab nations calling for the restoration of the
country's transitional government, and which includes the US, European Union,
Saudi Arabia, UAE and the UN — held talks in Saudi Arabia.
"Deep concern about yesterday's
violence," Perthes, the UN envoy, said on Twitter, after attending the
meeting via video link.
"International support and leverage is
needed. Support for political process needs to go along with active support to
stop violence."
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