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Sudan Security Forces Open Fire at Protest Site Sudan’s Military Abandons Talks and Opens Fire on Democracy Protesters
(about 8 hours later)
Gunfire erupted in the streets of the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, early Monday as security forces opened fire on pro-democracy protesters outside the country’s military headquarters and killed at least 13 people, according to opposition groups and local media reports. Sudan’s security forces stormed a major protest camp in the nation’s capital of Khartoum on Monday, killing an estimated 31 people and wounding hundreds, protest organizers said, in a day of violence that plunged the country’s once-hopeful revolution into chaos and uncertainty.
Soldiers fanned out across the city in the most concerted drive yet to disperse the protesters, who are demanding a transition to civilian rule after the ouster of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir in April. The dawn raids, led by a paramilitary unit notorious for atrocities in the western region of Darfur, appeared to signal that the military was intent on breaking the pro-democracy movement that galvanized Sudan following the ouster in April of the longtime dictator and president Omar Hassan al-Bashir.
The removal of Mr. al-Bashir raised hopes among the protesters after decades of autocratic rule, but weeks of talks between protest leaders and the Transitional Military Council, which has ruled Sudan since April, collapsed this week. Weeks of power-sharing talks between the civilian opposition and the generals who seized power from Mr. al-Bashir recently collapsed, after the military rejected a plan to cede power during a transitional period.
Videos posted to social media showed bleeding protesters lying on the ground, and uniformed men opening fire in the streets and thrashing civilians with sticks. The brutal crackdown confirmed protesters’ fears that the military, backed by the wealthy rulers of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, was never serious about its claims to support civilian rule. Demonstrators were alarmed that their grass-roots drive for democracy, which only weeks ago cast a beacon of hope in the Middle East, could ultimately be quashed by the same authoritarian tactics that foiled the Arab Spring.
Plumes of smoke rose over the city as demonstrators blocked streets near the protest site, burning tires at barricades. A camera over the empty protest site recorded long bursts of gunfire. Protest organizers declared a general strike across Sudan on Monday. On the streets, protesters mounted barricades across the city in an effort to resist the military operation.
The Forces for Declaration of Freedom and Change, which represents the protesters in negotiations, put the toll at 13 dead and over 200 injured. A spokeswoman for a doctor’s association, the Central Committee of Sudan Doctors, cautioned earlier that the toll was incomplete because the military was preventing ambulances from reaching medical stations in the main protest area. The soldiers moved in on Monday at first light, opening fire at the main protest area outside Sudan’s military headquarters in central Khartoum, taking advantage of a rainstorm hours earlier that thinned out the number of protesters.
Videos posted to social media showed uniformed men burning tents and thrashing civilians with sticks. Bleeding protesters lay lifeless on the ground. Long bursts of gunfire rang out across the city.
Plumes of smoke rose over Khartoum as angered demonstrators blocked streets in parts of the city, burning tires at barricades.
Khartoum was on lockdown for the rest of the day, with cellphone networks restricted and the internet sporadically cut off. Protesters reported that the security forces were raiding homes in search of protest leaders and had dumped the bodies of slain protesters in the Nile.
The Forces for Declaration of Freedom and Change, which represents the protesters in negotiations, put the toll at 31 dead and several hundred injured. A spokeswoman for a doctor’s association, the Central Committee of Sudan Doctors, cautioned earlier that the toll was incomplete because the military was preventing ambulances from reaching medical stations in the main protest area.
Speaking by phone from Khartoum, a doctor at the Royal Care International Hospital, who did not want to be identified for fear of reprisals, said soldiers positioned outside were stopping medical staff from entering the hospital, where many of the wounded were taken.
The violence drew stinging condemnation from the United Nations, the African Union and Western governments, but a more qualified response from the Arab nations that have sided with Sudan’s military leaders.
The United States Embassy in Khartoum blamed the country’s military leaders for the violence and called for an immediate halt. “Sudanese security forces’ attacks against protesters and other civilians is wrong and must stop,” the embassy wrote on Twitter.The United States Embassy in Khartoum blamed the country’s military leaders for the violence and called for an immediate halt. “Sudanese security forces’ attacks against protesters and other civilians is wrong and must stop,” the embassy wrote on Twitter.
Britain’s ambassador to Sudan, Irfan Siddiq, said gunfire started to erupt near his residence in central Khartoum in the early morning and joined the American call for a cessation. “No excuse for any such attack. This. Must. Stop. Now,” Mr. Siddiq wrote on Twitter. Britain’s ambassador to Sudan, Irfan Siddiq, who said gunfire erupted near his residence in central Khartoum, joined the American call for a cessation. “No excuse for any such attack. This. Must. Stop. Now,” Mr. Siddiq wrote on Twitter.
The Sudanese Professionals Association, which led the protests that toppled Mr. al-Bashir in April, said that the security forces were firing live ammunition outside a hospital in Khartoum and that they were pursuing protesters inside the medical building. The Western calls for nonviolence were likely outweighed, however, by the tacit support that wealthy Gulf countries and other Arab allies have given to Sudan’s generals since the protests toppled Mr. al-Bashir.
The United States Embassy attributed the violence to the Transitional Military Council led by Lt. Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan. “Responsibility falls on the TMC. The TMC cannot responsibly lead the people of Sudan,” the embassy added in its post on Twitter. The rulers of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt view the popular revolution in Sudan as a dangerous example to their own countries, where the Arab Spring revolt of 2011 was either quashed or never allowed to take root.
Shams al-Deen al-Kabashi, a spokesman for the military council, said in televised remarks that the military was confining its operations to a specific area near the sit-in that he nicknamed “Colombia.” The military was moving to open blocked roads across the capital, he added. After Mr. al-Bashir was ousted on April 11, the Saudis and Emiratis offered $3 billion in aid to shore up the military’s popularity and to strengthen the generals’ hand in power-sharing negotiations with civilian leaders.
But a Western diplomat in Khartoum, speaking by phone, said the military appeared to have been deployed widely across the city. It was unclear which branch of Sudan’s fractious security forces was leading the effort. Many protesters pointed to members of the Rapid Support Forces, a powerful paramilitary group led by the deputy military leader Lt. Gen. Mohamed Hamdan, widely known as Hemeti. In recent weeks, Sudan’s top generals traveled to the Gulf for talks with their allies , Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia and Prince Mohammed bin Zayed of the United Arab Emirates.
In a statement, the Forces for the Declaration of Freedom and Change declared a general strike across Sudan and called on the international community to boycott the Transitional Military Council. As the violence unfolded on Monday, though, it was unclear which parts of Sudan’s fractious military and security establishment was driving the crackdown. The United States Embassy blamed the ruling Transitional Military Council led by Lt. Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.
The military action to disperse the pro-democracy demonstrators was the moment that the protesters have been fearing for weeks. “Responsibility falls on the T.M.C. The T.M.C. cannot responsibly lead the people of Sudan,” the embassy added in its post on Twitter.
Mr. al-Bashir’s ouster in April, after four months of street protests, brought tens of thousands of young Sudanese to the gates of the military headquarters in joyous scenes that celebrated the demise of a hated dictator and, they hoped, heralded a return to full civilian rule. But videos and eyewitness accounts pointed to the Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary unit drawn from the janjaweed militias that carried out atrocities in Darfur in the 2000s, and which has now emerged as a powerful force in the capital. As the power-sharing talks have dragged on in recent weeks, Rapid Support Force soldiers have gradually fanned out across Khartoum.
In the weeks since, the protest site has become a focus of the burgeoning pro-democracy movement. Thousands of people gathered nightly for concerts, to hear speeches or just to mingle freely, savoring new social freedoms that were impossible under Mr. al-Bashir. The group’s leader, Lt. Gen. Mohamed Hamdan, widely known as Hemeti and seen as one of the most powerful figures in Sudan, consolidated his power by meeting with Prince Mohammed of Saudi Arabia.
Despite punishing summer temperatures, the sit-in continued into the holy fasting month of Ramadan, which ends this week. For the protesters, the brutal operation to clear them from the protest zone was the moment they had been dreading for weeks.
The protesters are demanding an immediate transition to full civilian rule during a transitional period leading to elections in about three years. General al-Burhan and the military have agreed to strong civilian participation in a transitional government but insist that they should remain in charge. Mr. al-Bashir’s ouster, after four months of street protests, brought tens of thousands of young Sudanese to the gates of the military headquarters in joyous scenes that celebrated the demise of a hated dictator and, they hoped, heralded a return to full civilian rule.
On May 1, the African Union warned that it would suspend Sudan from the bloc if the military did not transfer power to a civilian authority. But Sudan’s generals are backed by powerful regional actors, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, whose leaders have been discomfited by the popular protests in Sudan. In the weeks since, thousands of young Sudanese have gathered nightly at the protest site for concerts, to hear speeches or just to mingle freely, savoring new social freedoms that were impossible under Mr. al-Bashir.
In April, the Saudi and Emirati governments pledged $3 billion in aid to Sudan in a gesture widely viewed as a boost to the military, and Sudan’s military leaders met with the rulers of its two benefactors last week. Despite punishing summer temperatures, the sit-in continued into the holy fasting month of Ramadan, which ends this week. The protesters enjoyed the backing of the United Nations and the African Union, which on May 1 warned it would suspend Sudan from the bloc if the military did not transfer power to a civilian authority.
Anwar Gargash, the de facto foreign minister of the United Arab Emirates, called last month for an “orderly transition” in the country. “We have experienced all-out chaos in the region and, sensibly, don’t need more of it,” he said. But political talks to end the crisis were scuttled by the military’s obduracy. Opposition and military leaders have spent weeks arguing over who should head a sovereign council to rule Sudan during a transitional period leading up to elections that both sides agree should last about three years.
Such statements stoked fear among Sudanese protesters that the military might try to forcibly disperse them, much as Egypt’s military did in 2013 when it killed over 800 people in Cairo to end street protests led by the Muslim Brotherhood. General al-Burhan and the military have said publicly that they agreed to strong civilian participation in a transitional government, but insist that they should retain overall power. In an effort to break the deadlock, civilian negotiators offered compromises that included rotating power between civilian and military leaders, according to Western officials.
The initial toll on Monday in Khartoum was nowhere near that, but there were reports that some protesters had mounted barricades across the city in an effort to resist the military operation. Analysts have long warned that the transition to democracy in Sudan, if it goes awry, risks plunging the country into much greater chaos. But the talks collapsed and the civilians showed their muscle by calling a two-day strike that was respected across the country. Monday’s raid appeared to be an effort to break that strength.
“The crackdown is likely to act as a catalyst for more protests as the violence by the military has assured the public that the T.M.C. is just more of the old Bashir regime with new leaders,” said Sreya Ram, an analyst for The Economist Intelligence Unit, a research group, adding, “Public discontent over the lack of real change in both political power and the economy will ensure unrest continues.” Analysts have long warned that Sudan’s transition to democracy, if it goes awry, could plunge the country into much greater chaos.
One of the largest countries in Africa, Sudan is awash in arms after years of revolt by rebel groups in the western Darfur region and in the states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile. One of Africa’s largest countries, it is awash in arms after years of battle between the government and rebel groups in the the Darfur, Blue Nile and South Kordofan regions. The United States, which once led Western policy on Sudan, has largely ceded that role in recent years. Gulf countries are filling the vacuum, looking to safeguard the own interests.
On the government side, General Hemeti and the paramilitary Rapid Security Forces have emerged as a powerful and largely unaccountable force. General Hemeti has also led Sudan’s deployment of thousands of soldiers to fight in Yemen on the side of the Saudi- and Emirati-led coalition. For the Saudis and Emiratis, Sudan is a major troop contributor to the war they are fighting in Yemen. Last month Anwar Gargash, the de facto foreign minister of the United Arab Emirates, called for an “orderly transition” in the country. “We have experienced all-out chaos in the region and, sensibly, don’t need more of it,” he said.
The effort to remove the protesters on Monday came after a night of heavy rains in Khartoum, which meant the number of protesters camped outside the military headquarters was relatively low. Such statements stoked fear among Sudanese protesters that the military might try to forcibly disperse them, much as Egypt’s military did in 2013 when it killed more than 800 people in Cairo to end street protests led by the Muslim Brotherhood.
Speaking by phone from Khartoum, a doctor at the Royal Care hospital, where many of the wounded were taken, said soldiers positioned outside were stopping medical staff from entering the hospital.
One video clip circulating on social media, taken at another hospital in the city, showed a bloodied Sudanese flag draped over the body of a young man.