Militia used tear gas and live ammunition on protesters gathered to end Omar al-Bashir's iron-fisted rule of three decades in Sudan. The crowd chanted “freedom, freedom,” as they camped outside the Khartoum complex that houses the president's home.
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Sudanese protesters remained camped outside army headquarters for a fourth day Tuesday, buoyed by the abandonment of a pre-dawn attempt to disperse them after soldiers intervened, witnesses said.
Crowds have braved searing temperatures to gather for the sit-in since Saturday. The protestors were hurled with tear gas and fired at by riot police in an attempt to disperse them. Regardless of hundred people being injured and five including a soldier losing their lives, the sit-in demanding that Bashir step down, continues.
Protests that began in December soon snowballed into a movement against the current president. It started when the price of something as basic as bread went up three-fold.
“There was heavy firing of tear gas after which army soldiers opened the gates of the compound for protesters to enter,” a witness said.
Later a group of soldiers returned to the complex with a body in their pick-up truck, witnesses said.
“What is the price of martyrs?” shouted the demonstrators as the vehicle entered. It was not immediately clear whose body it was.
Defence Minister General Awad Ibnouf vowed that the army would prevent any slide into chaos.
“Sudan's armed forces understand the reasons for the demonstrations and is not against the demands and aspirations of the citizens, but it will not allow the country to fall into chaos,” Ibnouf said on Monday.
Representatives of protestors seek for direct talks with the army regarding the formation of a transitional government.
“We call on the Sudanese armed forces to talk directly with the Alliance for Freedom and Change for facilitating the peaceful process of forming a transitional government,” said Omar el-Digeir, a senior member of the group.
Reading from a statement, he also called on the armed forces “to withdraw their support for a regime that has lost its legitimacy” and to support the “people's alternative for a transition to a civilian democratic government.” The country has also been witnessing smaller protests in other parts of the country.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has urged all parties to "exercise utmost restraint and avoid violence".
Bashir has been long-accused of human rights abuse. He is also subject to an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant over accusations of of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Over the last year, inflation has risen and the Sudanese pound has dropped to a great extent.