Security forces shot and killed three protesters on Monday during rallies against last year’s military coup, medics said, ahead of a visit by U.S. diplomats seeking to revive a transition to civilian rule.
The protesters “were killed by live bullets” by “militias of the putschist military council”, anti-coup medics said on the Facebook page of Khartoum state’s Health Ministry.
The killings bring to 67 the death toll of protesters killed since the October 25 coup led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.
Envoys’ visit
The military takeover triggered wide international condemnation and derailed a fragile transition to civilian rule following the April 2019 ouster of longtime autocratic president Omar al-Bashir.
The latest rallies, in Khartoum and Wad Madani to the south, came as U.S. envoy to the Horn of Africa David Satterfield and Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Molly Phee are expected in the capital this week.
Protesters have regularly taken to the streets despite a deadly security clampdown and periodic cuts to communications since the coup.
On Thursday, Sudanese authorities said protesters stabbed to death a police general, the first fatality among security forces.
Starting Monday in Riyadh, Mr. Satterfield and Mr. Phee were to meet the Friends of Sudan, a group calling for the restoration of the country’s transitional government.
The meeting aims to “marshal international support” for the UN mission in Sudan, the U.S. State Department said.
The diplomats then travel to Khartoum for meetings with pro-democracy activists, civic groups, military and political figures.
On Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that a new charges d’affaire Lucy Tamlyn will head the embassy in Khartoum to serve “during this critical juncture in Sudan’s democratic transition.”
