At least three people were killed, and dozens injured in Omdurman, north of the Sudanese capital, during protests that swept most of Sudan’s cities on Sunday.
Sudanese Security Forces fired tear gas and sound bombs to prevent protesters from reaching the presidential palace in central Khartoum.
Since the early hours of yesterday morning, hybrid security forces were deployed extensively in the centre of the capital and closing the entrances to the main bridges linking the three cities of the capital, Khartoum, Omdurman and Khartoum North.
Eyewitnesses said that armed individuals entered some institutions near the presidential palace and asked employees to vacate the place for security measures.
The Sudanese authorities restored cement barriers to the main roads in Khartoum, hours after it was removed. They also closed the Nile bridges linking the three cities of the capital (Khartoum – Khartoum North – Omdurman), and cut off the Internet and communications, while armed forces deployed on Nile Street and the vicinity of the Presidential Palace, and closed all roads surrounding the General Command of the Army.
Khartoum and a number of cities witnessed demonstrations condemning the political agreement signed between the President of the Sovereign Council, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, and Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok, and demanding the return of democratic civilian rule.
The head of the United Nations Integrated Mission in Sudan, Volker Peretz, recently described the security forces’ use of excessive violence in Sudan’s demonstrations as “extremely disturbing”.
The UN official added in a tweet that this “contradicts the commitments made by the security forces, to avoid such methods, and undermines confidence,” calling for “an end to this persistent trend immediately.”
