Hundreds of Sudanese demonstrated on Tuesday against a military coup carried out by army commander Abdel Fattah al-Buran last year and tribal clashes that killed more than 100 people, according to AFP correspondents.
Forces for Freedom and Change, the country’s main opposition coalition, last week called for a “one nation of Sudan march to the capital and states” on Sunday before it was rescheduled for Tuesday. Demonstrators in the capital Khartoum were seen holding the Sudanese flag and chanting “Sudan is the homeland for all people.”
They also chanted “No to the tribe, no to regionalism” while others urged the army to “return to the barracks”, according to AFP journalists. Tuesday’s demonstrations were attended by senior politicians, including Mohamed El-Feki and former minister Khalid Omar Yousef. The two were part of a group of civilian officials who were removed from power by Al-Burhan in a military coup.
Sudan is in political and economic upheaval, with thousands of Sudanese regularly demonstrating in the capital and other cities demanding the restoration of civilian rule. According to Sudan’s Central Committee of Doctors, which opposed the coup, 114 protesters have been killed since the military coup by Abdel Fattah al-Buran on October 25 last year.
Sudan is suffering from an escalating economic crisis and a widespread security breach that has escalated ethnic violence in areas far from the capital. Clashes erupted recently in Blue Nile State, on the border with Ethiopia, over a land dispute between the Alberti and Hausa tribes, which left at least 105 people dead and 291 injured.
Since then, tribal clashes have sparked angry protests in several Sudanese cities as thousands of Hausa took to the streets of many states, including the capital, demanding “retribution for the martyrs.” Opponents of the coup see the key to solving the problem in the hands of the military and their allies from previous insurgent movements, accused of fomenting ethnic and tribal tensions for selfish purposes.
Earlier this month, Al-Burhan announced that the military organization would not participate in the national dialogue called for by the United Nations and the African Union “to make room for political and revolutionary forces… and to form a government of independent national competence to carry out ( requirements) of the transitional period”.
Al-Burhan’s statement also included that “The Sovereignty Council will be dissolved and the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces will be formed from the Armed Forces and Rapid Support to take over the supreme command of the regular forces and be responsible for security and defense tasks, after the formation of a civilian government. However, Al-Burhan’s statement was rejected by demonstrators and opposition forces. Forces for Freedom and Change described the announcement as an “open manoeuvre”.
