KHARTOUM, Feb 14 — Sudanese security forces fired tear gas today at protesters rallying against last year’s military coup and the arrest of several political figures and pro-democracy activists, an AFP correspondent said.
Thousands of demonstrators rallied in the capital Khartoum and its twin city of Omdurman, AFP reporters said.
Protests also took place in other parts of the country, including in the eastern city of Port Sudan and in the western Darfur region, according to witnesses.
In Khartoum, protesters carried the Sudanese flags and red balloons as well as banners that read: “Today is the nation’s love day” as the rallies coincided with Valentine’s Day.
Other shouted slogans demanding authorities release several people arrested since the October military power grab.
“We are demanding the release of resistance committee members and politicians who were unjustly arrested and some of whom are facing fabricated charges,” protester Khaled Mohamed told AFP.
Security forces fired tear gas at crowds who rallied near the presidential palace in central Khartoum, an AFP correspondent said.
Regular mass protests have rocked the troubled northeast African nation since the October 25 military takeover led by army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.
The power grab derailed a fragile power-sharing agreement between the army and civilians which had been negotiated after the 2019 ouster of longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir
Since the coup, authorities have arrested many activists who belong to so-called resistance committees who have been instrumental in organising protests.
“The number of people detained arbitrarily and without criminal charges has exceeded 100,” the Sudanese Professionals Association said today.
The group, which also calls for anti-coup protests, said the detainees aged between 16 and 16.
Yesterday, Sudanese authorities arrested Mohamed al-Fekki, a civilian former member of the ruling Sovereign Council which led the country under the 2019 power-sharing agreement.
Last week, authorities arrested ex-minister Khaled Omar Youssef and Wagdi Saleh, the spokesman of Sudan’s main civilian bloc, the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC).
Those arrests came one day after they joined an FFC delegation for talks with UN special representative Volker Perthes, as part of efforts launched last month to resolve Sudan’s deepening crisis.
Demonstrators today also held up pictures of protesters killed since the October coup.
An independent group of medics say at least 79 people have been killed and hundreds wounded in a crackdown on the pro-democracy demonstrators.
On Saturday, Burhan said investigations were underway to determine who was behind those deaths. — AFP
