The Latest: Protest leaders call for night marches in Sudan
KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) — The latest on the Sudanese military’s moves against a sit-in protest camp in the capital (all times local):
2:50 a.m.
Sudan’s ruling military council says it is cancelling all agreements with protest leaders and will call elections within seven months.
The head of the council, Gen. Abedel-Fattah Burhan, says in a statement early Tuesday that the elections will be internationally supervised. He says the council will form an interim government to prepare for the elections.
Burhan says military leaders will investigate Monday’s violence, in which security forces overran the main pro-democracy protest site in Sudan’s capital. Protest groups say at least 35 people are dead and hundreds wounded.
Burhan says the coalition representing the demonstrators shares responsibility for the bloodshed. He says the Forces for Declaration of Freedom and Change has been “extending the negotiations and seeking to exclude other political and security forces” from being in a transitional government.
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2 a.m.
Organizers of Sudan’s pro-democracy protests say security forces have killed five more people in the capital Khartoum, bringing the death toll to over 35.
The Sudan Doctors’ Committee said late Monday that the five people were killed in the capital Bahri district. It says the exact death toll is unclear because “armed militias and security forces are surrounding the hospitals and attacking and arresting doctors.”
The group says hundreds of people have been wounded, many by gunfire.
The committee is a member of the Sudanese Professionals Association, which has been spearheading protests against army rule.
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11:55 p.m.
Two U.N. Security Council members are urging the body to discuss the Sudanese military’s deadly crackdown on pro-democracy protesters.
The United Kingdom and Germany are seeking to schedule a closed-door session on Sudan on Tuesday.
The request comes as the U.N. says Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “strongly condemns” Monday’s deadly assault on the protesters’ main sit-in site in Sudan’s capital of Khartoum. Guterres spokesman Stephane Dujarric says that “there was use of excessive force by the security force on civilians.”
Witnesses and protest leaders say security forces opened fire, torched tents and killed at least 30 people.
The protesters have camped for months outside the military’s headquarters as the two sides negotiated over who would run the country after the April ouster of longtime strongman Omar al-Bashir.
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9:40 p.m.
An international advocacy group is accusing Sudanese military authorities of “employing terror to quell voices” of opposition in the country.
The New York-based Physicians for Human Rights on Monday urged the U.N. Human Rights Council to urgently send a fact-finding mission to document and investigate the violence.
Security forces have moved against the protest sit-in camp in Khartoum after a weeks-long standoff with demonstrators seeking a speedy transition to civilian rule following strongman Omar al-Bashir’s ouster in April.
Maryam al-Khawaja, European director and interim director of advocacy at PHR, says Monday’s attacks are “evidence that the violence against peaceful protesters in Sudan is once again on the rise.”
Protests’ organizers say security forces killed over 30 people when they attacked the camp on Monday.
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8 p.m.
Sudanese protest leaders are calling on people to take part in night marches across the country, hours after security forces attacked the protest sit-in in the capital city of Khartoum, killing over 30 people.
The Sudanese Professionals’ Association also urged protesters block the main roads to “paralyze public life” across the country.
Activist Nazim Sirraj says security forces have clashed with protesters in the Khartoum districts of Buri and Bahri, and its sister city of Omdurman.
Troops have moved against the protest camp in Khartoum after a weeks-long standoff with demonstrators seeking a speedy transition to civilian rule following the ouster of strongman Omar al-Bashir in April.
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7:50 p.m.
Sudanese protest organizers say the number of people killed in the security force’s raid of a sit-in protest camp as risen to more than 30.
The Sudan Doctors’ Committee said Monday that the death toll is rising and has been difficult to count in the sit-in area outside the military complex in Khartoum.
The group says hundreds of people have been wounded, many by gunfire.
The committee is a member of the Sudanese Professionals Association, which has been spearheading protests against army rule.
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7:15 p.m.
The United Nations says Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “strongly condemns” Sudanese security forces’ crackdown on a camp at the center of the country’s protest movement.
Stephane Dujarric, a spokesman for the U.N. secretary-general, said Monday: “there was use of excessive force by the security force on civilians.”
He added that Guterres is calling on Sudanese authorities to facilitate an independent investigation into Monday’s deadly assault in the capital city of Khartoum. Security forces opened fire, torched tents and killed at least 13 people.
The spokesman also said Guterres is urging “all parties to act with utmost restraint” and pursue peaceful dialogue.
The protest movement spurred the military in April to remove strongman Omar al-Bashir after 30 years of rule. Tensions have mounted as negotiations between protest leaders and military officials yielded little progress on forming a transitional government.
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6:45 p.m.
A leading rights group is calling on the U.N. Security Council to consider imposing sanctions on members of Sudan’s ruling military council after security forces attacked the camp at the center of the protest movement, killing at least 13 people.
Amnesty International on Sunday demanded “an immediate end to the violent attacks by the Rapid Support Forces and other security forces against protesters.”
Sarah Jackson, Amnesty International’s deputy regional director for east Africa, says the U.N. body “must consider targeted sanctions on members of the TMC (the Transitional Military Council) and others involved in the attack.”
She says Sudan’s military council “has completely destroyed the trust of the Sudanese people and crushed the people’s hope for a new era of respect for human rights and respect for the right to protest without fear.”
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6:30 p.m.
The U.N. human rights chief is deploring the use of live ammunition in protest camps in Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, which has killed at least 13 people.
The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said in a statement Monday: “reports that live ammunition was used by security forces next to, and even inside, medical facilities are extremely alarming.”
She called Monday’s attack on the sit-in a “real setback.”
She urged Sudanese authorities to “immediately” halt such attacks, and open an independent investigation into the use of excessive force against protesters.
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5:15 p.m.
Sudan’s ruling military council has blamed “criminals” who sought refuge inside a protester sit-in for the violent clashes in the country’s capital of Khartoum.
The council said Monday that security forces were trying to clear an area adjacent to the protester camp, when those it was chasing fled into the sit-in, leading to shooting deaths and injuries.
The council urged protester leaders to resume negotiations as soon as possible in order to “achieve the desired transformation.”
The Forces for Declaration of Freedom and Change, which represents the pro-democracy protesters, has said they are suspending talks over forming a transitional authority with the military following today’s assault.
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2:50 p.m.
The chairman of the African Union Commission is strongly condemning the violence in Sudan and urges the country’s Transitional Military Council “to protect the civilians from further harm.”
The statement released Monday by Moussa Faki Mahamat calls for an immediate and transparent investigation into the reported deaths and injuries.
Mahamat urges “utmost restraint” and calls for civilians’ rights to be respected. He urges international partners to “reinforce common efforts towards the immediate cessation of the violence.”
His statement also recalls an April communique by the continental body’s Peace and Security Council that urged all stakeholders to return to negotiations to reach an inclusive deal that “paves the way for a civilian-led Transitional Authority.”
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2:45 p.m.
Egypt’s national airline says it has canceled a flight to Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, amid an attack by security forces on a protest camp there, which protest leaders say has killed at least 13 people.
EgyptAir said in a statement that Monday’s flight has been canceled due to the events in Khartoum.
By mid-day, witnesses and protest leaders said security forces controlled almost the entire camp, and had cleared away the months-old sit-in that was demanding the military yield power.
The Sudan Doctors’ Committee has said security forces used live ammunition to clear the sit-in.
Earlier Monday, Egypt’s Foreign Ministry urged “both parties” to exercise restraint.
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1:30 p.m.
Germany is condemning violence in Sudan that has led to the deaths of more than a dozen protesters.
A spokesman for the Foreign Ministry said Monday that Germany “is deeply worried about the latest developments in Khartoum” after security forces cleared a protest camp outside the army headquarters in Sudan’s capital.
The spokesman, Christofer Burger, said security forces “appeared to have used firearms and there were deaths and numerous injuries.”
Burger added: “Nothing justifies the violence and it must stop immediately. The violent clearance of the protest area greatly endangers the process of handing over governing powers to a civilian-led government.”
He said Germany supports the African Union and United Nations-led process, and called on the parties in Sudan to avoid further escalation and return to the negotiating table.
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1:00 p.m.
Egypt is calling on both the Sudanese military and protesters to exercise restraint amid an attack by security forces on a protest camp in the capital. Protest leaders say security forces have killed at least 13 people.
Monday’s statement by the Foreign Ministry urged “both parties” to return to negotiations in order to “achieve the aspirations of the Sudanese people.”
In Sudan, protest leaders say they are suspending talks with the military regarding the creation of a transitional government.
The Forces for Declaration of Freedom and Change, which represents the protesters in transition negotiations, called for an open general strike and civil disobedience, as well as for the international community “not to recognize the coup.”
The Sudan Doctors’ Committee has said the security forces used live ammunition to clear the sit-in.
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12:40 p.m.
Sudanese protest leaders say at least 13 people have been killed in the military’s assault on the sit-in outside the military headquarters in the capital, Khartoum. The protesters have announced they are suspending talks with the military regarding the creation of a transitional government.
The Forces for Declaration of Freedom and Change, which represents the protesters in transition negotiations, said Monday that protesters are unable to evacuate “the bodies of our martyrs.” It said hundreds of people have also been wounded.
The leaders have called for an open general strike and civil disobedience, and for the international community “not to recognize the coup.”
The leading opposition Umma Party called for people to set up other sit-ins, both in the capital and across the country.
The party said the military’s raid showed that it is standing in the way of “the Sudanese revolution.”
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11:50 a.m.
Sudanese activists say an assault by security forces has almost completely cleared the sit-in area outside the military’s headquarters in the capital, Khartoum.
Hisham Shalbi, a protest leader, says the forces have pushed the protesters out of the site using live ammunition, tear gas and sticks.
“They now control the sit-in area. We are out and cannot get in,” he said.
Dura Gambo, another activist, confirmed the use of live bullets and said all entrances to the sit-in were closed off after troops dispersed the protesters.
Shams al-Deen al-Kabashi, spokesman for the military council, said in televised remarks that the military was targeting what it considers a problematic area near the sit-in, nicknamed “Colombia,” because of alleged criminal activity there.
He did not make clear if the military’s goal was to break up the entire sit-in camp, but said forces were moving to open blocked roads across the capital.
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11:40 a.m.
Sudanese protest organizers say the number of people killed in the military’s raid of a sit-in protest camp as risen to 9.
The Sudan Doctors’ Committee said Monday that the death toll is rising and has been difficult to count.
The group says more than 200 people are wounded, many by gunfire, and that medical personnel and injured people are trapped inside clinics in the sit-in area.
Troops have moved against the protest sit-in camp in Khartoum after a weeks-long standoff with demonstrators seeking a speedy transition to civilian rule following strongman Omar al-Bashir’s ouster in April.
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10:20 a.m.
The U.S. Embassy in Sudan is calling on Sudanese security forces to stop their “attacks against protesters and other civilians.”
The embassy said via Facebook that apparent attempts by Sudanese troops to move against a months-long protest camp in the capital are “wrong,” and that it holds the country’s Transitional Military Council responsible for the attacks.
The British ambassador in Sudan, Ifran Siddiq, says he is “extremely concerned by the heavy gunfire” he’d heard from his official home in Khartoum, as well as “reports that Sudanese security forces are attacking the protest sit-in site, resulting in casualties.”
“No excuse for any such attack,” he said via Twitter.
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10:15 a.m.
Sudan’s ruling military council confirms there have been clashes between troops and protesters in a sit-in area in the capital, Khartoum.
Shams al-Deen al-Kabashi, spokesman for the council, said in televised remarks that the military was targeting what it considers a problematic area near the sit-in, nicknamed “Colombia.” He said a number of people from that area then moved to the main protest site, and that the clashes had been between security forces and those people.
He did not make clear if the military’s goal was to break up the entire sit-in camp, but said forces are moving to open blocked roads across the capital.
In the same “Colombia” area, three people, including a woman, were killed by security forces in recent days.
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9:30 a.m.
Sudanese protest leaders say at least five people were killed as security forces moved against a protest sit-in camp in the capital, besieging the site and setting fire to tents.
The Sudan Doctors’ Committee said Monday that an unspecified but high number had been wounded. The group said medical personnel and injured people were trapped in clinics in the area, and demanded that they be allowed to leave.
Dura Gambo, an activist, said security forces “used the heavy rain yesterday and moved in the early morning to disperse people.”
The military’s push came after a weeks-long standoff with protesters seeking a speedy transition to civilian rule, following the April ouster of long-time strongman Omar al-Bashir.
Videos circulating online appeared to show protesters standing at low brick barricades in the street, then being driven back by walls of blue-clad security forces carrying sticks.
Other videos showed protesters running through streets lined with sit-in tents, heads down, as the sound of gunfire filled the air.
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6:25 a.m.
Explosions and heavy machine gun fire are being heard across the Sudanese capital of Khartoum and troops are blocking roads leading to a sit-in camp of protesters who have demanded transition to civilian rule.
An Associated Press journalist also saw smoke rising from the site in Khartoum as the raid went on early Monday morning.
The sit-in has lasted weeks as civilians and military officials argue over the makeup of a transitional government.
The military overthrew longtime ruler Omar al-Bashir in April after mass protests against his 30-year rule.
Protesters insist no elections should be held before three years so that civilian leaders can dissolve all social and political networks of al-Bashir’s old party and purge all state institutions.
The Western Journal has not reviewed this Associated Press story prior to publication. Therefore, it may contain editorial bias or may in some other way not meet our normal editorial standards. It is provided to our readers as a service from The Western Journal.
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