Sudan: Another dead in crackdown on anti-military regime

A protester was killed Saturday in Khartoum by Sudanese security forces during another day of mass mobilization against the military junta, doctors said.

The unnamed victim was killed by a “bullet in the chest” in Omdurman, a northwestern suburb of the capital, during a demonstration against the October 25, 2021 military coup by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhaan al-Burhan. , an independent organization that is part of the democratization movement in the African country.

Death increases to 96 the number of people who have fallen victim to the repression of mass mobilizations. Hundreds of other Sudanese have been injured and thousands arrested, with no political solution on the horizon.

On Thursday, thousands of people protested against a military coup that ousted the fragile agreement that led to the formation of a transitional military-civilian government after generals ousted Omar al-Bashir, who ruled Sudan for almost three years.

The same day, two communist leaders were arrested before being released the following day. According to their party, they were arrested because they recently met with a rebel leader, Abdel Wahid Nour, and went to an area controlled by another rebel leader, Abdelaziz al-Hilo. Both have refused to sign the Khartoum peace agreement in 2020, unlike most other armed movements in Sudan.

The United Nations and the African Union – which has suspended Sudan’s involvement – are calling for dialogue between “all” the country’s political forces to avoid the risk of perpetuating the crisis “at the economic and security level”. .

But in the country, one of the poorest in the world, where one in two people will face the spectrum of hunger by the end of the year, according to the UN, citizens refuse to have a dialogue with the military. The latter continue to demand the dismissal of the UN Special Representative in Khartoum, Volker Pertes.