Tens of thousands of protesters have poured onto the streets of Khartoum and elsewhere as part of mass rallies aimed at pressuring Sudan’s ruling generals to hand over power to a civilian-led administration and seeking justice for the scores of victims of a deadly military crackdown.
Dubbed the “millions march”, today’s demonstrations were the first since security forces on June 3 killed more than 100 people during the bloody dispersal of a protest camp outside the military headquarters, the focal point of the protesters’ months-long struggle for democracy.
Protesters said there was a “huge turnout” in Khartoum despite a widespread internet blackout. In Khartoum, police fired tear gas at crowds in the northern district of Bari and in Mamura and Arkweit in the east. A heavy contingent of security forces, including the much-feared paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), was deployed ahead of the protest.
The military said it would hold the opposition responsible for any violence or loss of life in the protests.
Talks between the Transitional Military Council (TMC) and the opposition collapsed after 3 June and have not resumed despite mediation by the African Union (AU) and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
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