Sudan: Police break up demonstrations calling for civilian rule

According to eyewitnesses and video footage on social media platforms, Sudanese police forces broke up demonstrations in Sudan’s capital Khartoum on Friday, calling for the return of civilian rule.

Eyewitnesses told Anadolu Agency that the police forces used tear gas to disperse the demonstrators in the Al-Diyum area of central Khartoum.

Witnesses said that the police forces were trying to remove the barricades set up by protesters on a main street in the area.

Video footage on social media showed the police using tear gas to disperse the demonstrators, with hit-and-run operations between the police and protesters in neighbourhoods in the capital.

Protesters set up barricades to prevent police from chasing them in some neighbourhoods and set tyres on fire.

Earlier in the day, hundreds of demonstrators came out in Khartoum after Friday prayers to demand the return of civilian rule and to denounce the decisions made by Sudanese leader Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan.

READ: Sudan’s Forces of Freedom and Change accuses army of ‘committing genocide’

After performing Friday prayers, the demonstrators chanted: “Free revolutionaries, we will continue the journey,” “The people are a stronger people, and apostasy is impossible,” and “This country is our right and the civility of our government.”

On 25 October, the army declared a state of emergency, dissolved the Sovereignty Council and the transitional ministers, dismissed the governors, and arrested party leaders, ministers, and officials, in return for ongoing popular protests and widespread international criticism calling for the return of the transitional government.

Prior to the announcement of the army’s decisions, since August 2019, Sudan has been experiencing a 53-month transitional period that will end with holding elections in early 2024.