More than 30 people killed in Sudan protest camp Doctors

More than 30 people have been killed in the dispersal of a protest camp in the center of the Sudanese capital Khartoum, (that is just outside the Defense Ministry) on Monday, after security forces stormed the main protest camp violently opening fire.

“The number of people killed in the dispersal of a protest camp in the center of the Sudanese capital Khartoum on Monday rose to more than 30,” an opposition-linked doctors’ committee said. The committee added that the number was likely to rise as many casualties are still unaccounted for.

The massacre, termed as the worst violence since the overthrow of President Omar al-Bashir, has  drawn global condemnation.

The main protest organizers, the Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA), accused the security forces of perpetrating “a massacre” when they raided the camp amid heavy gunfire.

“What happened, killing protesters, wounding and humiliation, was a systematic and planned matter to impose repression on the Sudanese people,” he said.

Council spokesman Lieutenant General Shams El Din Kabbashi denied this saying security forces were pursuing “unruly elements” who had fled to the protest site and caused chaos.

Madani Abbas Madani, a leader of the Declaration of Freedom and Change Forces (DFCF) opposition alliance, says that an open-ended civil disobedience campaign would continue to try to force the council from power.

“Khartoum was very tense on Tuesday as many roads were barricaded by protesters, many shops were shut and streets were mostly empty. Security forces were trying to clear the barricades,” a Reuters witness said.

Sudan has been rocked by unrest since December, when anger over rising bread prices and cash shortages broke into sustained protests that culminated in the armed forces ousting Bashir.

The United Nations has condemned the use of excessive force by the security forces against protesters and called for an independent investigation into the killings.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement that he was “alarmed” by reports that security forces had opened fire inside a hospital in Khartoum.

“What is clear to us is that there was use of excessive force by the security forces on civilians. People have died. People have been injured,” said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric.