Coup d’état in Sudan: deadly clashes between demonstrators and security forces – archyde

Four days later the military coup in Sudan, the repression continues. Clashes between demonstrators and security forces left another dead Thursday, October 28, in Khartoum, the fourth day of a military coup refused by the streets and by the international community who want the return of civilians to power in Sudan.

On Monday, General Abdel Fattah Al-Bourhane, now alone in command of this poor East African country, dissolved the government supposed to ensure the transition to democracy. He also arrested ministers and senior civilian officials in a country plunged into political slump and plagued by conflict.

After days of negotiation, in particular because of the Russian reluctance to condemn the putsch, the UN Security Council called on Thursday “The reestablishment of a transitional government led by civilians”. “Our message to the military authorities of Sudan is clear: the Sudanese people must be allowed to demonstrate peacefully and the civilian-led transitional government must be restored”, reacted, for his part, the American President, Joe Biden, promising that his country would continue to “To stand alongside the Sudanese people”.

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Between demonstrators determined to stay in the streets until the return of a civilian cabinet and security forces armed with guns, tear gas canisters and rubber bullets, at least eight demonstrators were killed and 170 wounded, according to officials of the health.

Call for mobilization on Saturday

With barricades of branches, burnt tires and stones, the demonstrators keep reinstalling barricades across the avenues of the capital to paralyze the country with a campaign of ” civil disobedience “. In fact, only a few bakeries are open, crowded with families. Like the last four days, the iron curtains of shops, banks and restaurants have remained lowered.

The security forces that crisscross the city regularly try to raise these makeshift roadblocks, going to confrontation. In central Khartoum, few ventured into the streets for fear of being arrested by security forces.

Early Thursday evening, in addition to a protester killed, six others were wounded, several by bullets in Khartoum-North, a city separated from the Sudanese capital by the Nile, doctors reported to Agence France-Presse. “There could be other deaths, but it is difficult to establish contacts with Khartoum-North to have confirmation”, adds the Committee of Physicians, a pro-democracy union. In this suburb separated from the Sudanese capital by the Nile, security forces fired, used rubber bullets and tear gas at demonstrators, as well as in the very turbulent district of Bourri, in the east of the capital.

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On social networks, accessible in rare places in a country where the authorities have cut off access to the Internet, activists shared images of nightly demonstrations calling for a “Civil power”. Most civil society organizations, unions and associations dissolved by General Burhane, called for a massive mobilization on Saturday against the coup.

They want “A million demonstrators” to demand that General Burhane, military commander during the three decades of unchallenged power of General Omar El-Bashir, join him in the high security prison of Kober in Khartoum.

Six ambassadors sacked

In 1989, Mr. Bashir seized power in a coup against the democratically elected Prime Minister Sadeq Al-Mahdi. Before being sidelined by the army in April 2019 under the pressure of a popular revolt. Monday is Abdallah Hamdok, the head of the transitional government set up in August 2019, who was overthrown by General Burhane. He is at home in Khartoum but is not “Not free to move around”, according to the UN.

His foreign minister, Mariam Al-Sadek Al-Mahdi, is the daughter of the prime minister overthrown by Mr. Bashir and one of the few civilian officials who is not in detention. She greeted the 33 diplomats who signed a joint statement condemning the putsch, published on social networks. “Every free ambassador who refused the coup d’etat represents a victory for the revolution”, tweeted, Thursday, M^me Mahdi, who has become the voice of dissent.

General Burhane, meanwhile, sacked six protest ambassadors, including that of China, the European Union, France and the United States. On Wednesday, UN envoy Volker Perthes reiterated in front of Mr. Hamdok and Mr. Burhane the need for a “Back to the transition process” and a “Immediate release of all those arbitrarily arrested”. Because the security forces have also detained activists and demonstrators opposed to the coup, including the number two of the party, Oumma de M^me Mahdi. On Thursday evening, state television announced the dismissal of its director, Loqman Ahmed, a long-time defender of civil power.

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Putting pressure on the military, the African Union suspended Sudan and the World Bank stopped its aid. The United States has also suspended part of its aid and the EU has threatened to follow. In an attempt to explain his coup, General Burhane invoked on Tuesday the risk of ” civil war “ after several demonstrations against the army.

But the West and several international organizations have called for the return of civil power. “We do not want Sudan to return to the dark hours of its history”, tweeted the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell.

The World with AFP