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Soldiers open fire on anti-coup protesters

Sudanese armed forces opened fire on protesters yesterday during a military coup which jeopardised hopes of the African state embracing human rights reforms and moving to democracy.

Eyewitnesses said that at least 12 people protesting against the coup were wounded by gunfire after the military placed Abdalla Hamdok, the Sudanese prime minister, under house arrest in the early hours of Monday morning, local time.

Sudan’s doctors’ committee said three people had died of their wounds after being shot by armed forces.

General Abdel-Fattah al-Burhan, the head of the Sudanese army, announced in the afternoon that he had disbanded the government and declared a state of emergency.

Thousands of Sudanese took to the streets to condemn the coup, blocking streets and setting fire to tyres, as the army shut down the country’s internet and phone lines.

The United States responded to the coup by threatening to suspend aid unless the military respected Hamdok’s plans for a transition to democracy, a move that would further devastate Sudan’s crippled economy.

The military takeover came just two years after a protest-led revolution ousted autocratic leader Omar alBashir and began the process of holding democratic elections in 2023. In the coming weeks, the army had also been due to hand over to civilians the leadership of a powerful council that controls the African country.

Under the leadership of Hamdok, who formed a transitional government following the 2019 revolution, Sudan had vowed to end flogging, child marriage, apostasy laws and female genital mutilation as it sought to improve relations with the West and return to the international fold.

Sudan also signed a normalisation treaty with Israel last year and was removed from the US blacklist of statesponsors of terrorism, opening the door to crucial international aid funding.

But yesterday, all the progress made since 2019 risked being reversed as critics of the coup’s leaders said they feared a return to oppressive military rule.

‘‘I am really worried about the situation, which is very fluid now. Burhan has taken an irreversible step,’’ Mohamed Osman, a Sudanese businessman and fellow at the African Leadership Institute, told the

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2021-10-27T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-10-27T07:00:00.0000000Z

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