Daily Times

Thousands of Sudanese took to the streets Friday to renew protests nearly a year after a military coup led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan derailed the country’s transition to democracy. Burhan on October 25, 2021 staged a putsch that ousted the mainstream civilian bloc from power and triggered widespread international condemnation and near-weekly protests.

Demonstrators gathered in Khartoum and its suburbs Friday, shouting “no to military rule”, “the people want the fall of the regime” and for the military to return “to the barracks”, AFP journalists said. Security forces had cordoned off the capital early in the morning, shutting off access to bridges, as the resistance committees responsible for mobilising against the coup had for days been calling for protests on social media.

Friday also marks the 58th anniversary of the first uprising that toppled a military dictatorship in the country that has a history riddled with coups, only seeing brief spells of democratic rule over the decades. Sudan’s latest pro-democracy uprising came in 2019, when longtime dictator Omar al-Bashir was toppled following months of protests against his rule. In the aftermath, a power-sharing deal was painstakingly stitched together between the country’s military and civilian leaders, before it was upended by Burhan’s coup. At least 117 people have been killed in the protests against military rule since the power-grab, according to pro-democracy medics. The US embassy in Khartoum has warned of further violence, calling on security forces to “refrain from using violence against protestors” in a tweet Thursday.

In addition to the protests in Khartoum on Friday, hundreds also gathered in Wad Madani, a resident of the city, Adel Ahmed, told AFP. Hundreds more gathered in East Nile state, east of Khartoum, according to witnesses. The protests come exactly one year after similar demonstrations marking the 1964 “October Revolution” in Sudan in a show of support for civilian rule, days before Burhan would carry out his putsch.