Sudanese security forces fired tear gas on Thursday to disperse protesters furious over a military coup that derailed a fragile transition to democracy and sparked an international outcry.
While street violence rocked Khartoum for a fourth day, the UN Security Council called on Sudan’s new military rulers to restore the civilian-led government they toppled on Monday.
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The council in a unanimously passed statement expressed “serious concern” about the army power grab in the poverty-stricken Northeast African nation and urged all sides “to engage in dialogue without pre-conditions”.
General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan — Sudan’s de facto leader since the 2019 ouster of veteran autocrat Omar al-Bashir after huge youth-led protests — on Monday dissolved the country’s fragile government.
While the civilian leader, Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, has been under effective house arrest, the capital has been rocked by days of unrest and is bracing for major demonstrations on Saturday.
Roads have been blocked by barricades of rocks, debris and burning car tyres that have sent black smoke billowing into the sky, while most shops have been shuttered in a campaign of civil disobedience.
“We do not want military power, we want a free democratic life in this country,” said one protester.
