KHARTOUM: Thousands of Sudanese took to the streets on Friday to renew protests nearly a year after a military coup led by Gen Abdel Fattah Burhan derailed the country’s transition to democracy.

On Oct 25 last year, Gen Burhan staged a putsch that ousted the mainstream civilian bloc from power and triggered widespread international condemnation and near-weekly protests. Demonstrators gathered in Khartoum and its suburbs on Friday, shouting “no to military rule”, “the people want the fall of the regime” and for the military to return “to the barracks”.

Security forces had cordoned off the capital early in the morning, shutting off access to bridges, as the resistance committees responsible for mobilising against the coup had for days been calling for protests on social media.

Friday also marked the 58th anniversary of the first uprising that toppled a military dictatorship in the country that has a history riddled with coups, only seeing brief spells of democratic rule over the decades.

Sudan’s latest pro-democracy uprising came in 2019, when long-time ruler Omar Bashir was toppled following months of protests. In the aftermath, a power-sharing deal was painstakingly stitched together between the military and civilian leaders, before it was upended by Burhan’s coup.

At least 117 people have been killed in the protests against military rule since the power-grab, according to pro-democracy medics.

The US embassy in Khartoum has warned of further violence, calling on security forces to “refrain from using violence against protesters” in a tweet.

Published in Dawn, October 22nd, 2022