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Thousands Rally in Sudan on Anniversary of April 6 Revolution

Head of the National Umma Party (NUP) Sadiq al-Mahdi addresses his supporters in Khartoum, Sudan December 19, 2018. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah
Head of the National Umma Party (NUP) Sadiq al-Mahdi addresses his supporters in Khartoum, Sudan December 19, 2018. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah
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Thousands Rally in Sudan on Anniversary of April 6 Revolution

Head of the National Umma Party (NUP) Sadiq al-Mahdi addresses his supporters in Khartoum, Sudan December 19, 2018. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah
Head of the National Umma Party (NUP) Sadiq al-Mahdi addresses his supporters in Khartoum, Sudan December 19, 2018. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah

Thousands of people were marching towards Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir's residence and the defense ministry in central Khartoum on Saturday, witnesses said, part of anti-government protests that began in December.

They said security forces were using tear gas to try to disperse the demonstrators, who had converged on the compound from three directions.

Earlier, Head of the National Umma Party (NUP) Sadiq al-Mahdi called on Bashir to end the state of emergency and resign, urging his followers to participate in the rallies on the occasion of the 6 April 1985 uprising that ousted Jafar Numari.

Mahdi called for setting up a 25-member council to govern Sudan. "I call on all our people to participate in widespread rallies tomorrow, on April 6, to meet the call of their homeland," Mahdi told worshippers during the weekly Muslim prayers at a mosque in Omdurman, according to a statement issued by his party.

"I call on President Bashir to resign, dissolve all constitutional institutions and form a council of 25 people to govern the country," he added, stressing that the protests are peaceful and that the dream is stronger than weapons.

Worshippers then staged a small demonstration outside the mosque but were quickly dispersed by police who fired teargas.

Bashir called off a speech that the press was invited for a few hours before Saturday protests. Presidential Affairs Minister Fadl Abdullah Fadl denied that the president had such an intention.

Sudanese Professionals Association, spearheading protests with the Freedom and the Change Coalition, said in a joint statement on Friday that rallies will kick off from Kosti, Rabak, El-Obeid, Zalingei, Singa, al-Manaqil, Al-Fashir, Atbara, and others.

The rallies concurring with April’s anniversary are considered the biggest coordinative work between the Sudanese Professionals Association and the Freedom and the Change Coalition since the protests emerged on Dec. 19, 2018.

The veteran leader has remained defiant however, imposing emergency rule and other tough measures that have seen protesters, opposition leaders, and activists arrested.

Officials say 31 people have died in protest-related violence so far, but Human Rights Watch has put the death toll at 51, including children and medics.

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Kurdish-Led Forces Push Back Turkish-Backed Syrian Opposition Faction in Tense Offensive

This aerial view shows the area in the south of Syria's northern city of Manbij on December 21, 2024. (AFP)
This aerial view shows the area in the south of Syria's northern city of Manbij on December 21, 2024. (AFP)
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Kurdish-Led Forces Push Back Turkish-Backed Syrian Opposition Faction in Tense Offensive

This aerial view shows the area in the south of Syria's northern city of Manbij on December 21, 2024. (AFP)
This aerial view shows the area in the south of Syria's northern city of Manbij on December 21, 2024. (AFP)

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said Tuesday they have launched a counter-offensive against the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army to take back areas near Syria’s northern border with Türkiye.

The SDF is Washington’s critical ally in Syria, targeting sleeper cells of the extremist ISIS group scattered across the country's east.

Since the fall of the totalitarian rule of Bashar Assad earlier this month, clashes have intensified between the US-backed group and the SNA, which captured the key city of Manbij and the areas surrounding it.

The intense weekslong clashes come at a time when Syria, battered by over a decade of war and economic misery, negotiates its political future following half a century under the Assad dynasty’s rule.

Ruken Jamal, spokesperson of the Women’s Protection Unit, or YPJ, under the SDF, told The Associated Press that their fighters are just over seven miles (11 kilometers) away from the center of Manbij in their ongoing counter-offensive.

She accused Ankara of trying to weaken the group’s influence in negotiations over Syria’s political future through the SNA,

“Syria is now in a new phase, and discussions are underway about the future of the country,” Jamal said. “Türkiye is trying, through its attacks, to distract us with battles and exclude us from the negotiations in Damascus.”

A Britain-based opposition war monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, says since the SNA’s offensive in northern Syria against the Kurds started earlier this month, dozens from both sides have been killed.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke on Tuesday with Turkish Minister of National Defense Yaşar Güler, according to Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder. He said they discussed the ongoing situation in Syria, and Austin emphasized that close and continuous coordination is crucial to a successful effort to counter ISIS in the country. They also discussed the importance of setting the conditions to enable a more secure and stable Syria.

Ankara sees the SDF as an affiliate of its sworn enemy, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which it classifies as a terrorist organization. Turkish-backed armed groups alongside Turkish jets for years have attacked positions where the SDF are largely present across northern Syria, in a bid to create a buffer zone free from the group along the large shared border.

While the SNA was involved in the lightning insurgency — led by the group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham — that toppled Assad, it has continued its push against the SDF, seen as Syria’s second key actor for its political future.

On Monday, the SDF spokesperson Farhad Shami said the group's forces pushed back the Turkish-backed opposition fighters from areas near the Tishrin Dam on the Euphrates, a key source of hydroelectric power. He said the SDF also destroyed a tank belonging to the opposition southeast of Manbij.

The British-based war monitor said on Tuesday that the Kurdish-led group, following overnight fighting, has reclaimed four villages in the areas near the strategic dam.

Turkish jets also pounded the strategic border town of Kobani in recent days.

During Syria’s uprising-turned-conflict, the Kurds carved out an enclave of autonomous rule across northeastern Syria, never fully allying entirely with Assad in Damascus nor the opposition trying to overthrow him.

Even with the Assad family out of the picture, it appears that Ankara’s position won’t change, with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan’s landmark visit to Syria maintaining a strong position on the Kurdish-led group in his meeting with de facto leader Ahmad al-Sharaa of HTS.

“It has turned the region into a cauldron of terror with PKK members and far-left groups who have come from Türkiye, Iraq, Iran and Europe," Fidan said in a news conference after the meeting. “The international community is turning a blind eye to this lawlessness because of the wardenship it provides (against ISIS).”

With the ongoing fighting, SDF Commander Mazloum Abdi has expressed concern about a strong ISIS resurgence due to the power vacuum in Syria and the ongoing fighting, which has left the Kurdish-led group unable to carry out its attacks and raids on the extremist group’s scattered sleeper cells.

Tens of thousands of children, family members, and supporters of ISIS militants are still held in large detention centers in northeastern Syria, in areas under SDF control.