178 Injured in Fresh Anti-coup Protests

December 25, 2021 (KHARTOUM) – 178 people were wounded by the security forces in Khartoum on Saturday as a result of the excessive use of violence to disperse the anti-coup protests.

Protesters in Sudan took to the streets to reaffirm their rejection of the dissolution of the transitional government by the military component two months ago on 25 October.

In a statement released late on Saturday, the Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors said that 178 demonstrators were injured including eight by live bullet wounds, three of them are critical injuries.

The Sudanese government closed main streets leading to the Republican Place in Khartoum, shut down internet services, and deployed troops on the bridges linking the three towns of the capital Khartoum, Khartoum North and Omdurman.

Five days after the last protests of December 19, the demonstrators again made their target the presidential palace which is the premises of the military-dominated Sovereign Council.

In spite of the massive deployment of joint security forces including the police, the army and the Rapid Support Forces, the protesters marched towards the Palace chanting slogans to denounce the coup d’etat of Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.

“The people are stronger and It is impossible to go back,” they also chanted to voice their determination to continue the protests that started immediately after the first hours of the coup on October 25.

Also, women participated in Saturday’s promptest to show they were not intimated by the sexual violence and rape by the security forces on 19 December.

The police used live ammunition and tear gas to disperse the protests in the streets near the Republican Palace.

Nonetheless, they failed to stop the demonstrators.

The security authorities in Khartoum on Friday announced the closure of the bridges and streets leading to the sovereign and strategic sites.

The security services will deal with “chaos and abuses” said a statement issued by the Security Coordination Committee of Khartoum State. Also, it warned against attacks on “sovereign sites”.

In a statement late on Saturday, the security coordination committee said the deployed sought to protect the demonstrations and ensure the freedom to protest.

It said that the security forces intervened to stop an attack on an analyses laboratory, adding that the protesters also attacked four security vehicles.

“The security forces used the strictly necessary force with tear gas to limit these abuses,” stressed the statement which added that 58 elements were wounded.

114 protesters were arrested, according to the statement.

Similar protests organized by the Resistance Committees took place in the other states.

The military authorities did not react to the massive protests.

Also, they did not react to the use of sexual violence against female protesters.

The official news agency, SUNA, however, posted a news story about the demonstration without mentioning the excessive use of violence.

(ST)