Sudan: at least 14 dead in the bloodiest crackdown on protests since coup

At least fourteen people died on Wednesday in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, in one of the bloodiest days since the beginning of the protests against the coup in October.

In the capital’s northern suburbs alone, eleven people, including a woman, were riddled with bullets, according to a pro-democracy medical union. The security forces targeted “the head, neck or torso.”

In total, since the military coup on October 25, 38 people, including three teenagers, have died and hundreds have been injured. The repression began on the first day, but hardened this Wednesday.

At noon, the new military government cut off all telephone communications, while the internet has been inaccessible in the country since October 25.

On Wednesday, on the third day of mass protests, activists were unable to mobilize as usual by SMS and there were only a few thousand protesters compared to tens of thousands of previous occasions.

Instead, the deployment of security and repression were more important. The bridges that connect the capital Khartoum with the suburbs were blocked.

“Crimes against humanity”

“It was a very bad day for the protesters”Soha, a 42-year-old protester, told AFP. “I saw a gunshot wounded behind me and there were many arrests” in Khartoum, he added.

The Sudan Professionals Association, one of the most active in the 2019 revolt that overthrew the dictator Omar al Bashir, denounced “immense crimes against humanity” on Wednesday, accusing the security forces of “premeditated killings”.

Police deny the allegations and state television announced the opening of an investigation into the dead protesters.

However, on Wednesday night, the doctors union accused the security forces of persecuting them in hospitals and firing tear gas at the wounded and ambulances.

Despite the danger, hundreds of protesters continued to hold their barricades at night, especially in the northern suburbs of the capital, while marches in other Sudanese cities had dispersed.

On October 25, General Abdel Fattah al Burhan, who was leading the transition process, declared a state of emergency, dissolved the government and detained civilian leaders.

As a result, the United States suspended its $ 700 million aid.

“It is vital that the transition regain the legitimacy it had”US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday at a press conference in Nairobi, Kenya.

“If the army gets the train running again and does what is necessary, I believe that the support of the international community, which has been very strong, can be resumed,” he added.

Faced with the situation, the United States sent the Undersecretary of State for African Affairs, Molly Phee, to Sudan.

To try to return to the transition process, the policy has been in contact with both civilians – including Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok under house arrest – and the military.

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