KHARTOUM: Four people were reported killed as huge crowds took to the streets of Sudan amid a communications blackout and tight security to rally against the country’s military leadership that seized power eight months ago.
The Central Committee of Sudan Doctors said in a tweet on Thursday that the four were fatally shot when police fired live ammunition at protesters in Omdurman. The committee, which tracks casualties during protests, said the identity of those killed was not immediately known. Crowds in the tens of thousands were estimated to be protesting in Khartoum and its twin cities of Omdurman where the four were reported killed and in Bahri.
Security forces fired tear gas and water cannon to block the protesters from marching towards the presidential palace in central Khartoum.
The protesters barricaded some of the capital’s main thoroughfares with stones and burning tyres. Extended internet blackouts were reported in an apparent effort to hamper the protest movement. Staff at Sudan’s two private sector telecoms companies, speaking on condition of anonymity to media, said authorities had ordered them to shut down the internet on Thursday. Advocacy group Netblocks.org said in a statement that the disruption was recorded across many mobile and fixed-line internet providers, including state operator Sudantel, leaving national connectivity at only 17 percent of its ordinary levels. –Agencies
