Sudan braces for protests marking deadly sit-in dispersal

KHARTOUM, Sudan

Sudan braces for protests on Saturday to mark the third anniversary of a deadly sit-in dispersal, in which dozens of protesters were killed.

More than 60 protesters were killed when security forces violently dispersed a protest camp outside the army headquarters in the capital Khartoum on June 29, 2019. The day coincided with the 29th day of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

Opposition groups, however, say more than 128 people were killed in the dispersal.

The popular resistance committees, which spearhead the current wave of protests against the military, called for protests on Saturday to mark the anniversary of the sit-in dispersal.

According to an Anadolu Agency reporter on the ground, demonstrators blocked a number of main roads in Khartoum with burning tires and roadblocks since early morning.

In anticipation of the protests, Sudanese authorities ordered a ban on all gatherings in central Khartoum, according to the state news agency SUNA.

The planned rallies amid turmoil in Sudan since Oct. 25, 2021 when the military dismissed Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok’s transitional government and declared a state of emergency, a move decried by political forces as a “military coup”.

Prior to the military takeover, Sudan was governed by a sovereign council of military and civilian officials tasked with overseeing the transition period until elections in 2023.

*Writing by Ibrahim Mukhtar in Ankara