Sudan military attacks protesters as civil disobedience begins
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The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) launches the recent brutal crackdown on Sudanese protesters at the behest of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Egypt
Sudan's military forces have fired tear gas at protesters after they began a civil disobedience campaign, called in the wake of a deadly crackdown on demonstrators.
As the campaign took off, protesters gathered tires, tree trunks and rocks to build new roadblocks in Khartoum Sunday, witnesses said.
Military forces swiftly moved in and fired tear gas at them, nearly a week after a deadly raid on a sit-in outside army headquarters which left scores of people dead.
Earlier Sunday, an umbrella group representing Sudan's protest movement announced a nationwide "civil disobedience" campaign, saying it will continue until ruling generals transfer power to a civilian government.
"The civil disobedience movement will begin Sunday and end only when a civilian government announces itself in power on state television," the Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA) said in a statement.
"Disobedience is a peaceful act capable of bringing to its knees the most powerful weapons arsenal in the world," it added in the statement run by media outlets.
The statement came days after a bloody military crackdown on a sit-in outside the army complex - reportedly green-lighted by Saudi Arabia - left at least 113 people dead in the capital Khartoum.
Speaking to Qatar's Al Jazeera broadcaster, a witness identified as Abdulbaqi Badreddin Abu Hala has put the death toll at about 500, alleging that many bodies were dumped in the River Nile by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The Central Committee of Sudan Doctors (CCSD) said on Thursday that 40 bodies had been recovered from the Nile.
Witnesses say the assault was led by the RSF, which has its origins in the notorious Janjaweed militia, accused of abuses in the Darfur conflict between 2003 and 2004.
Middle East Eye quoted a Sudanese military expert as saying this week that the head of Sudan’s ruling military council was given a “green light” by Saudi Arabia and its regional allies to crack down on protesters.
EA
