Teenager Killed as Sudanese Forces Open Fire on Anti-Coup Protesters

By Staff, Agencies

Sudanese security forces have attacked protesters denouncing last year's military coup, killing a teenager, medics say.

The anti-coup protests mainly took place in the capital Khartoum, and its neighboring cities of Omdurman and North Khartoum on Monday.

Witnesses said security forces fired tear gas to disperse the demonstrators.

According to the Central Committee of Sudan Doctors, the 17-year-old boy was shot dead during the crackdown on the protests in Omdurman.

"Babiker al-Rashid, 17, was killed in Omdurman after he was hit at a close range by a live bullet to the chest by coup authorities," the committee said in a statement.

Rashid’s death brings to 89 the number of people killed in the crackdown on protests against the junta, the statement added.

Sudan’s authorities have repeatedly denied opening fire on demonstrators.

The Sudanese military, led by coup leader General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, seized power last October, after detaining Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and other civilian leaders and dissolving the year-old transitional government as well as the joint ruling military-civilian sovereign council formed after the 2019 ouster of longtime President Omar al-Bashir.

He also declared a state of emergency and vowed to form what he called a competent government.

The move drew anger and outrage across the North African country and sparked international condemnations, including from the UN Security Council. The country has been rocked by protests since then.

Hamdok was restored in his post as part of a political deal with military rulers of the restive African country, but he resigned earlier in January amid a political impasse and large-scale protests.