Sudan military rulers use force to disperse sit-in

Sudan's ruling military council on Monday used force in a bid to break up a sit-in outside the Khartoum army headquarters, one of the main protest groups and witnesses said. The military ousted president Omar al-Bashir in April after months of protests against his authoritarian rule, including a sit-in in front of army headquarters in the capital.

Thousands of protesters remained camped out in front of the site calling on the generals to cede power to a transitional authority. "Now an attempt is taking place to disperse the sit-in at the headquarters of the people's armed forces by force by the military council," said the Sudanese Professionals Association, the group which spearheaded nationwide protests that started in December.

A witness living in the Burri neighbourhood in east Khartoum said he could "hear the sound of gunfire and I see a plume of smoke rising from the area of the sit-in." Another resident of the area, which is near the sit-in, said he had seen forces in "police uniform" trying to expel the demonstrators. The SPA said it amounted to a "bloody massacre", and called on Sudanese to take part in "total civil disobedience" to topple the military council and for people for take to the streets to protest.

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