KHARTOURM — Sudanese security forces fired tear gas
Tuesday at anti-coup protesters in
Khartoum chanting slogans against the
military days after the resignation of the country's civilian premier,
witnesses said.
اضافة اعلان
Protesters shouted "No, no to military rule" and
called for the disbandment of Sudan's ruling council headed by Gen.
Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, who led an October 25 coup that derailed a transition to
civilian rule.
Thousands of protesters gathered across Sudan, including in
Khartoum and its twin city of Omdurman as well as the eastern city of Port
Sudan and the South Darfur capital of Nyala.
Demonstrators in east Khartoum "burnt car tires and
built rock barricades on the streets," witness Sawsan Salah said.
Other protesters urged the military "to go back to the
barracks."
Streets leading to the presidential palace and army
headquarters were sealed off amid a heavy presence of troops, riot police and
paramilitary units, the witnesses said.
Pro-democracy activists have stepped up calls for
demonstrations since the October coup which saw then-prime minister
Abdalla Hamdok and cabinet ministers detained.
The coup has triggered mass demonstrations and a bloody
crackdown that has left at least 57 people dead and hundreds wounded, according
to the independent Doctors' Committee.
At least 13 women have allegedly been raped during the
unrest, according to the
UN.
On November 21, Burhan reinstated Hamdok in an agreement
promising elections in mid-2023, but the protest movement slammed the deal as a
"betrayal" and has kept up its protests.
Late Sunday, Hamdok announced that he was stepping down,
saying he had tried to prevent the country "from sliding toward
disaster" but that it was now at a "dangerous crossroads threatening
its very survival".
'Urgent action'
Arab League chief Ahmed Aboul Gheit said Tuesday that he
"respects" Hamdok's decision and called for "urgent action"
to resolve the crisis.
UN chief
Antonio Guterres "regrets that a political
understanding on the way forward is not in place despite the gravity of the
situation in Sudan", UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on Monday.
Sudan has been navigating a fragile transition towards full
civilian rule since the April 2019 ouster of veteran president Omar al-Bashir
following an unprecedented wave of youth-led protests.
Activists online had urged demonstrators to head to the
presidential palace in Khartoum "until victory is achieved",
according to the
Sudanese Professionals Association, an alliance of independent
trade unions that was instrumental in the anti-Bashir protests.
Last month, Burhan issued a decree allowing security forces
to arrest individuals "over crimes related to the state of
emergency", effectively banning street protests.
Security forces are allowed to enter and search "any
building or individual" and impose "surveillance of any property and
facility".
Since the coup, authorities have often disrupted internet
services and communication lines to make it more difficult for activists to
organize protests.
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