CAIRO — Thousands of Sudanese took to the streets in the capital of Khartoum and other cities Monday, activists said, continuing relentless anti-coup protests that have rocked the country since a military coup three months ago. At least two protesters were shot dead, according to medics.
There was no immediate comment from the transitional government.
Activists said security forces fired live ammunition and tear gas to disperse protesters in several locations in the capital, including the area around the fortified presidential palace. The area has seen clashes in previous rounds of protests since the Oct. 25 coup.
The military takeover has upended Sudan’s transition to democratic rule after three decades of repression and international isolation under autocratic President Omar al-Bashir. The African nation has been on a fragile path to democracy since a popular uprising forced the military to remove al-Bashir and his Islamist government in April 2019.
Protesters, mostly young people, marched Monday in the streets of Khartoum and its sister city of Omdurman, according to the pro-democracy movement. There were also protests elsewhere in the country, including the provinces of Kassala, Red Sea, Jazira and the already restive Darfur region, the movement said.
Footage circulated online showed security forces attempting to disperse protests with tear gas. Protesters were seen taking cover and hurling stones at the troops.
The Sudan Doctors Committee said security forces killed two protesters in Khartoum. It said one protester was shot in his chest and the second in his head.
Activist Nazim Sirag said six protesters suffered gunshot injuries in Khartoum and Omdurman.
More than 70 people have been killed and hundreds of others injured in protests since the coup, according to a local medical group.
Sudan has been politically paralyzed since the coup. The turmoil has further worsened since the resignation earlier this month of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok.
Hamdok resigned earlier this month, citing failure to reach a compromise between the generals and the pro-democracy movement. He had been reinstated in November in a deal with the military that angered the pro-democracy movement.
The United Nations mission has in the past two weeks been engaged in separate consultations with Sudanese rival factions in efforts to find a way out of the crisis.
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