Gunfire near the sit-in in Khartoum kills one and injures 11 protesters

Sudan's main protest group blamed the violence on the Transitional Military Council (TMC), saying that it is part of a plan to violently clear the protests.

Sudanese protesters attend a demonstration along the streets of Khartoum, Sudan May 22, 2019.
Reuters

Sudanese protesters attend a demonstration along the streets of Khartoum, Sudan May 22, 2019.

At least one person was killed and 11 people were wounded by gunfire near a protest sit-in in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on Saturday, an opposition doctors’ committee said.

Sudan's main protest group blamed the violence on the Transitional Military Council (TMC), saying that it is part of a plan to violently clear the protests.

The Sudanese Professionals’ Association (SPA) said Saturday it had reason to believe the military council was "planning and working to end the peaceful sit-in at the headquarters with excessive force and violence."

It said it held the military council responsible for "guaranteeing the safety of those at the sit-in".

TRT World's Philip Owira reports.

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Tensions are mounting between the TMC and an alliance of protest and opposition groups who want a quick handover of power to civilians.

TMC officials could not immediately be reached for a comment.

The head of the central Khartoum military region said on Thursday the protest site "has become unsafe and represents a danger to the revolution and the revolutionaries and threatens the coherence of the state and its national security."

Soldiers and security forces blocked off the city's Nile Street on Saturday afternoon, while gunfire could be heard in the distance, but It was unclear who was firing.

The doctors' committee said three people were wounded by gunfire and most of the other casualties were hit with rifle butts and steel bars, without elaborating.

The military ousted president Omar al Bashir in April after months of protests against his authoritarian rule. Since then, protesters have remained camped out in front of Khartoum's army headquarters to pressure the generals to yield power.

The latest violence comes after a man was shot dead Thursday on Nile Street, a day after a woman was killed in the same area.

The latter death happened during a "clash with live fire that took place between the armed forces and uncontrolled elements from it" according to the Sudanese Professionals Association which spearheaded anti-Bashir protests.

Negotiations between protest leaders and the ruling military council have broken down, as the two sides have failed to agree on whether a planned transitional body would be headed by a civilian or a military figure. 

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