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Protesters march during a rally against military rule following coup in Khartoum, Sudan, February 10 2022. Picture: MOHAMED NURELDIN ABDALLAH/REUTERS
Protesters march during a rally against military rule following coup in Khartoum, Sudan, February 10 2022. Picture: MOHAMED NURELDIN ABDALLAH/REUTERS

Khartoum  — At least two protesters were shot dead as security forces confronted crowds marching in Sudan on Monday demanding the release of prisoners and an end to military rule, medics and a Reuters reporter said.

Thousands returned to the streets in the capital Khartoum and across Sudan, in some of the biggest demonstrations against October’s coup in nearly a month.

In recent days security forces have arrested three high-profile civilian figures connected to a task force that was working to dismantle the rule of former president Omar al-Bashir, who was toppled in an uprising in 2019.

The family of a former member of Sudan’s dissolved transitional council, Mohamed Al-Faki Suleiman, said he had been arrested on Sunday.  Task force members  Wagdi Salih and Khalid Omer Yousif were arrested last week. All three men were part of the power-sharing arrangement between civilians and the military  set up after the overthrow of  Bashir.

Elsewhere, police fired teargas to try to disperse people who approached the disused parliament buildings in Omdurman and got close to a key bridge.

Columns of smoke rose into the sky as demonstrators blocked one of the main streets in Omdurman with stones. Some held giant pictures of protesters killed during previous rallies.

At least 80 have been killed by security forces since the coup, according to medics.

The military and police say they allow peaceful protest, that members of the security forces have had to defend themselves, and that casualties are being investigated.

In Khartoum, separate groups of protesters demonstrated about 2km from the presidential palace amid heavy security, witnesses said.

One protester was killed by scattered gunshot in Khartoum, said the Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors, a group aligned with the protest movement. It said the second protester was shot dead in Omdurman. There was no immediate comment from the military leadership.

Pictures of rallies in other towns and cities across Sudan were posted on social media.

Reuters 

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