Thousands turn out for anti-government marches across Sudan

Protesters chant ‘one people, one military’ and ‘freedom’ in the capital Khartoum

Sudanese protesters chant slogans outside the army headquarters in Khartoum. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

Associated Press in Cairo-Sat 6 Apr 2019 14.55 BST

Thousands of protesters have taken part in fresh anti-government marches across Sudan, according to organisers.

The Sudanese Professionals Association has spearheaded calls for an end to Omar al-Bashir’s three-decade rule soon after protests began on 19 December over surging prices and a failing economy.

Footage posted online showed hundreds of protesters, mostly young people, marching toward the military’s headquarters in the capital, Khartoum, on Saturday demanding the army’s support and chanting “one people, one military” and “freedom”.

The opposition Umma party said security forces arrested four of its leaders ahead of planned marches in the province of Sennar, about 225 miles (360km) east of Khartoum.

Authorities did not release any statements on the arrests, and a government spokesman did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

 An anti-government demonstration in Khartoum. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

Security forces have responded to the protest movement with a fierce crackdown, killing at least 60 people, according to Physicians for Human Rights, a New York-based rights group.

The government has said 31 people have been killed, but has not updated its tally in weeks.
The marches on Saturday marked the 34th anniversary of the overthrow of the former president Jaafar Nimeiri in a bloodless coup.

The military removed Nimeiri after a popular uprising. It quickly handed over power to an elected government. The dysfunctional administration lasted only a few years until al-Bashir – a career army officer – allied with Islamist hardliners and toppled it in a coup in 1989.