Sudan coup: 15 protesters killed as thousands rally in Khartoum
At least 15 protesters were shot dead and dozens wounded on Wednesday as thousands rallied in Sudan's capital to protest against the 25 October military coup.
The fatalities, all in the capital Khartoum, raised the death toll from unrest since the military seized power to 39, a pro-democracy doctors' union said.
The Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors (CCSD) said most of Wednesday's casualties had suffered gunshot wounds to "the head, neck or torso," but added that the demonstrators, undeterred and behind makeshift barricades, kept up their protests.
In a statement, the CCSD said security forces fired "live bullets extensively in separate areas of the capital," and that there are "tens of gunshot injuries, some of them in serious condition."
The CCSD also said security forces had arrested injured people inside Khartoum hospitals.
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Police denied using live ammunition and state television announced an investigation into the deaths.
Protesters had marched in neighbourhoods across Khartoum and its twin cities of Bahri and Omdurman despite mobile phone communications being cut earlier in the day.
At least six people were killed and 40 protesters seriously wounded at pro-democracy protests over the weekend, according to the CCSD, after security forces deployed live rounds of ammunition and tear gas against the demonstrators.
Medical sources told Middle East Eye that unprecedented violence has been used against protesters since the coup, including attacks by security forces on hospitals and ambulances being prevented from accessing the injured.
The UN special rapporteur on Freedom of Association and Peaceful Assembly, Clement Voule, condemned the violence and told military commanders that they would be "held accountable for these abuses."
"I received alarming reports of increased use of lethal force by military against peaceful protesters today, as 1000s continue to march defying violence. I urge the int community to put pressure on Sudan to immediately stop the repression against civilians & respect their rights.
"These systematic abuses by Sudan military - use of excessive lethal force, resulting in civilian deaths &serious injuries, repression, arbitrary arrests of protesters, defenders and journalists must immediately stop."
Speaking in Kenya, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said "We back [the Sudanese people's] call to restore Sudan’s democratic transition," adding that the country had been on a path towards stability and that he was "engaged intensely" in the matter.
Releasing political detainees
The coup, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, halted a power-sharing arrangement between military and civilian leaders.
Top civilian politicians were detained and Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok was placed under house arrest.
Mediation efforts have stalled, and Burhan has said he is committed to appointing a technocratic cabinet until elections in July 2023.
Much of the international community, including the African Union and the United Nations, have condemned the coup and its crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations. Meanwhile, the World Bank and the US have put a freeze on aid to Sudan.
Sudan is set to release all political detainees, including the ousted Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, within the next day or two, Malik Agar, a member of the country's ruling Sovereign Council, told Al Jazeera on Tuesday.
Hamdok has been under house arrest since the 25 October coup. The former prime minister met with a US envoy on Tuesday to discuss ways to restore Sudan’s democratic transition.
While details on the meeting between Hamdok and the US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Molly Phee, were not immediately released, the envoy's three-day visit to Sudan included a meeting with the army leader, Burhan.
According to Sudan News Agency (Suna), Burhan told Phee that steps had begun for releasing political detainees arrested during the military takeover, but not for those who face criminal charges.
The US Embassy said that Phee also met with Mariam al-Mahdi, foreign minister in the administration that Burhan had dissolved, “to show US support for the civilian-led transitional government”.
The new Sovereign Council that Burhan appointed last week met for the second time on Tuesday and discussed the appointment of a new prime minister, according to Suna.
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