Sudan's military rulers deny using force to disperse sit-in protest

Denying 'use of force' to disperse sit-in protest in the capital Khartoum, Sudan's military rulers said Monday their forces were targeting a site nearby after a doctors' committee said nine people had been killed. "We did not disperse the sit-in by force," said Shamseddine Kabbashi, spokesman for the ruling military council.

"The tents are there, and the youth are moving freely," he told Sky News Arabia. Heavily armed security forces in pick-up trucks mounted with machine guns were deployed in large numbers all around the capital, while gunfire was heard from the protest site by an AFP journalist. Kabbashi said the military was targeting a "dangerous" area near the sit-in protest. "This morning... security forces wanted to disperse a gathering in the area near where the sit-in was taking place," he said.

"This area, called Colombia, has long been a hotbed of corruption and negative practises that go against the conduct of Sudanese society," said Kabbashi. "Many escaped from the Colombia area and entered the area of the sit-in... and as a result many of the youth left the area." The Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors, which is close to the protesters, said at least nine people had been killed by forces of the military council. 

(With inputs from agencies.)