Sudanese Protesters Take to Streets to Demand Civilian Rule

An elderly Sudanese woman shouts slogans during the demonstration - AFP
An elderly Sudanese woman shouts slogans during the demonstration - AFP
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Sudanese Protesters Take to Streets to Demand Civilian Rule

An elderly Sudanese woman shouts slogans during the demonstration - AFP
An elderly Sudanese woman shouts slogans during the demonstration - AFP

Flashing victory signs, honking car horns and burning tires, masses of Sudanese protesters fearing a return to military rule took to the streets nationwide to make their point.

"We will not go back to dictatorship," said 21-year-old Solafa Mohammed covered in the Sudanese flag during a protest in the capital, Khartoum.

"We went out to say that we are alert and protecting our revolution."

Mohammed was among tens of thousands of protesters who rallied on Thursday in support of Sudan's transition to civilian rule.

They came to counter a pro-military protest camped outside the presidential palace in central Khartoum since Saturday.

The pro-civilian rule demonstrations occurred across the country from Port Sudan in the east to the Darfur region in the west.

They were reminiscent of the late 2018-2019 protests that erupted against the three-decade rule of then-president Omar al-Bashir, who was deposed in April 2019, according to AFP.

Many were dancing, singing, and chanting against senior military figures who have shared power with civilians since August 2019.

On a dusty red lot in Khartoum, they flew Sudanese flags, some of them so big they provided shelter from the sun for protesters underneath. Others carried giant green, yellow and blue flags, several metres long, from pre-Bashir Sudan.

"We will not give up our demand of a civilian state," said protester Amir Shazly.

The demonstrations were organized by the mainstream faction of the Forces for Freedom and Change, an umbrella civilian alliance which spearheaded the anti-Bashir protests more than two years ago.

They coincided with the anniversary of the Sudanese uprising against military rule by president Ibrahim Abboud in 1964.

The transfer to civilian rule is "not even a demand but its what the military itself agreed to do," said another protester, Ahmed al-Tayeb.

Sudan has been led by a civilian-military administration since a power-sharing deal in August 2019 that outlined the transition and the eventual transfer of power to civilians.

Under the transition, the country's political scene has been marred by deepening divisions between civilians and the military, and factional infighting among themselves.

Critics have alleged that the pro-military sit-in, organised by a splinter faction of the FFC, was backed by members of the military and counter-revolutionary sympathizers with the former regime.

Demonstrators at the sit-in have been calling for "military rule" and the dissolution of the transitional government headed by Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok.

Support for Hamdok's government has waned in recent months especially following tough IMF-backed economic reforms that took a toll on ordinary Sudanese.

Sudan's deepening economic crisis is marked by triple-digit inflation and severe shortages exacerbated by anti-government protesters who have blockade Sudan's main sea port.

"This government has not offered the Sudanese people anything for two years," said Hamada Abdelrahman, a protester outside the presidential palace in Khartoum.

Still, rival protesters remained adamant on the transfer of power to civilians.

"We are now sending a message that the streets belong to the revolutionaries," said protester Mujahed Mohammed in Khartoum.

"Its the people who get to decide."



US Airstrikes Kill 2 in Yemen as Trump’s Bombing Video Suggests Higher Death Toll

People assess the damage following reported overnight strikes that the Houthis said hit the Water Management building in Mansouriya in Yemen's Hodeidah, on April 2, 2025. (AFP)
People assess the damage following reported overnight strikes that the Houthis said hit the Water Management building in Mansouriya in Yemen's Hodeidah, on April 2, 2025. (AFP)
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US Airstrikes Kill 2 in Yemen as Trump’s Bombing Video Suggests Higher Death Toll

People assess the damage following reported overnight strikes that the Houthis said hit the Water Management building in Mansouriya in Yemen's Hodeidah, on April 2, 2025. (AFP)
People assess the damage following reported overnight strikes that the Houthis said hit the Water Management building in Mansouriya in Yemen's Hodeidah, on April 2, 2025. (AFP)

Suspected US airstrikes killed at least two people overnight in a stronghold of Yemen's Houthis, the group said Sunday, as a bombing video posted by US President Donald Trump suggested casualties in the campaign may be higher than the militants acknowledge.

The strikes in Saada killed two people and wounded four others, with footage aired by the Houthis' al-Masirah satellite news channel showing a strike collapsing what appeared to be a two-story building. The Iranian-backed Houthis aired no footage from inside the building, which they described as a solar power shop.

The intense campaign of airstrikes in Yemen under Trump targeting the rebels over their attacks on shipping in Mideast waters stemming from the Israel-Hamas war has killed at least 69 people, according to casualty figures released by the Houthis.

However, the Houthis have not acknowledged any casualties from their security and military leadership — something challenged after an online video posted by Trump.

Early Saturday, Trump posted what appeared to be black-and-white video from a drone of a group of several dozen people gathered in a circle. An explosion detonates during the 25-second video, with a massive crater left in its wake.

“These Houthis gathered for instructions on an attack,” Trump claimed, without offering a location for the attack or any other details about the strike. “Oops, there will be no attack by these Houthis! They will never sink our ships again!”

The US military's Central Command, which oversees America's Mideast military operations, has not published the video, nor offered any specific details about the strikes it has conducted since March 15. The White House has said there have been over 200 strikes so far targeting the Houthis.

The Houthi-controlled SABA news agency in Yemen, citing an anonymous source, described the bombing as targeting “a social Eid visit in Hodeidah governorate.” Muslims across the world just celebrated Eid al-Fitr, the festival at the end of the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. SABA had published images of other commanders meeting fighters during the holiday, though not any high-level Houthi officials.

“Those present at that gathering had no connection to the operations carried out by the (Houthis), which are implementing the decision to ban navigation on ships linked to the American and Israeli enemy,” the SABA report said, adding that the attack killed and wounded “dozens.”

However, the Houthis previously have not acknowledged any strike on Hodeidah during that time with such a high casualty count. The SABA report also did not describe those killed as civilians, suggesting those killed had ties to the militants’ security or military forces.

Mohammed al-Basha, a Yemen expert of the Basha Report risk advisory firm, cited social media condolence notices suggesting a colonel overseeing police stations for the Houthis in Hodeidah had been killed in the strike Trump highlighted alongside his two brothers.

“The strikes have expanded significantly, hitting multiple governorates simultaneously, alongside telecommunications infrastructure, command nodes, properties tied to senior Houthi leadership and previously untouched tunnel networks in mountainous areas,” al-Basha told The Associated Press.

“We’ve also seen direct targeting of Houthi force gatherings, indicating a more aggressive and evolving shift in the targeting strategy,” al-Basha said.

An AP review has found the new American operation against the Houthis under Trump appears more extensive than those under former US President Joe Biden, as Washington moves from solely targeting launch sites to firing at ranking personnel and dropping bombs on cities.

The new campaign of airstrikes started after the militants threatened to begin targeting “Israeli” ships again over Israel blocking aid entering the Gaza Strip. The Houthis have loosely defined what constitutes an Israeli ship, meaning many vessels could be targeted.

The Houthis targeted more than 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two of them and killing four sailors from November 2023 until January of this year. They also launched attacks targeting American warships without success.

The campaign shows no signs of stopping as the Trump administration repeatedly has linked its airstrikes on the Houthis to an effort to pressure Iran over its rapidly advancing nuclear program.