Africa

Sudan protesters blame ruling junta for bloodshed at rallies

Sudan’s protest leaders have blamed ruling generals for deadly new violence as three blood-stained bodies were found a day after thousands of Sudanese took to the streets to urge the country’s ruling generals to relinquish power.

Mohamed Naji al-Assam, a prominent protest leader, in a video posted on his Facebook page on Monday accused the ruling junta of using violence against protesters, who flooded the streets of Khartoum, twin city Omdurman and other towns and cities the previous day.

“The military council is completely responsible for these lives lost,” he said, adding, “Peaceful Sudanese protesters are exposed to excessive violence, live bullets and beatings.”

“The Sudanese have proven that they will not back down from reaching a civilian power, as it is the only way to realize the revolution’s goals,” he added.

On Monday, three blood-stained bodies were found lying in a part of Omdurman that had seen protests a day earlier.

Crowds of people gathered around the bodies, chanting “Just Fall, Just Fall,” another catchcry of the protest movement that has rocked Sudan in recent months.

State media reported that seven people were killed as tens of thousands rallied to demand a civilian government.

PressTV-Fresh mass anti-junta rallies rock Sudan

A doctors’ committee linked to the protest movement said five protesters had been killed on Sunday, including four in Omdurman, across the Nile from Khartoum. It also said several more were seriously wounded by gunshots fired by “military council militias,” a term protesters use for the feared paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). 

The generals in turn blamed the protest movement, the Alliance for Freedom and Change, for Sunday’s violence.

“Freedom and Change… incited protesters to go toward the republican palace (prompting) police forces to use tear gas to disperse protesters,” General Jamal Omer said in a video posted on the ruling military council’s Facebook page.

“Freedom and Change bears the entire responsibility for these violations and the casualties among regular forces and citizens.”

Tension remains high between the protest leaders and generals since the June 3 raid, when armed men in military fatigues shot demonstrators who had camped for weeks outside army headquarters.

A Sudanese protester walking with a crutch joins others in a march during a mass demonstration against the country’s ruling generals in the capital Khartoum’s twin city of Omdurman on June 30, 2019. (Photo by AFP)

According to the doctors’ committee, at least 133 people have been killed since the raid, including more than 100 on the day of the crackdown.

The northeast African country’s protesters have been calling for the departure of generals who seized power following the April ouster of longtime President Omar al-Bashir.

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