Sudan protests against dire living conditions turn deadly

Protests in Sudan have turned deadly after one person was reportedly killed and a dozen others were wounded, according to a group of doctors linked to the movement that led to the downfall of President Omar al-Bashir.

The demonstrations on Wednesday in the cities of Khartoum and Omdurman are over the country’s worsening economic situation. Protesters are also demanding justice for the hundreds killed during the 2019 uprising, which led to Bashir being toppled.

‘We demanded freedom, peace and justice’

Eyewitnesses said police fired teargas to disperse the small gatherings of about 100 protesters.

“There has not yet been any sentencing for the martyrs,” said one protester.

“We demanded freedom, peace and justice and neither achieve peace, neither freedom nor justice.”

Sudan has embarked on a rocky three-year transition since then under a joint civilian-military administration but has struggled with severe economic woes and skyrocketing consumer prices.

High inflation and a shortage of hard currency mean people are finding it difficult to even buy the basics. Long queues outside grocery stores have also become the norm as have power cuts that can last up to six hours.

Authorities have vowed to rebuild the economy and to bring to justice those responsible for killing protesters.

More than 250 people were killed during the anti-Bashir protests and the ensuing unrest, according to doctors linked to the protest movement.

The transitional authorities have been pushing to end the country’s isolation and to rebuild its economy.

On Monday, President Donald Trump declared his readiness to remove post-Bashir Sudan from a US blacklist of state sponsors of terrorism, a move Khartoum hailed as a vital step towards securing debt relief and spurring economic recovery.