Hundreds demonstrate in Omdurman after death of Sudan protester

Hundreds demonstrate in Omdurman after death of Sudan protester
Protesters gathered in Sudan's second largest city on Monday after a man died from wounds suffered at last week's anti-government demonstrations.
2 min read
22 January, 2019
Anti-government protests have rocked Sudan for more than a month [AFP]

Hundreds of people demonstrated in the Sudanese city of Omdurman on Monday after a protester died of wounds suffered at an anti-government rally last week, witnesses said.

A doctors' committee linked to the Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA) that is leading the nationwide demonstrations confirmed the protester had died.

"He was wounded on Thursday, but today (Monday) he died in hospital," the committee said in a statement.

A friend of the victim said he was attending the funeral along with hundreds of other people.

"I'm attending the funeral of my friend who was an engineer," he told AFP on condition of anonymity.

He added that the dead protester was wounded in the east Khartoum neighbourhood of Burri, which saw clashes between security forces and protesters.

Police have confirmed that two other people died during the Burri clashes on Thursday.

One of the victims was a doctor, whose death was also reported by the doctors' committee.

About 150 doctors held a silent sit-in on Monday to protest the doctor’s killing.

Carrying placards that read "killing a doctor means killing a nation," they stood in silence outside the Khartoum hospital where the doctor used to work, witnesses said.

Sarah Jackson, Amnesty's deputy director for East Africa, said it was an "outrage that Sudanese security forces continue to use lethal force on protesters and key service providers like doctors".

Read more on the role of Sudanese doctors in the protests here

But President Omar al-Bashir has rejected the accusations, claiming at a rally on Sunday that the doctor was "killed by someone from among the demonstrators".

Anti-government protests have rocked Sudan since mid-December, after Bashir's government decided to steeply raise the price of bread.

Sudan's protests also come amid an economic crisis driven by an acute shortage of foreign currency and soaring inflation that has more than doubled the price of food and medicine.

The protests, which quickly turned into nationwide demonstrations calling for an end to Bashir's three decades of rule, have left 26 people dead so far, according to officials.

Rights group Amnesty International has put the death toll at more than 40.

The SPA has called for nighttime demonstrations on Tuesday in Khartoum and Omdurman, with more planned for Thursday "across all towns and cities of Sudan".