Sudan Forces Seal Khartoum Ahead of New Anti-coup Rally

A Sudanese protester flashes a victory sign and waves a flag during a demonstrations demanding civilian rule in Khartoum on December 25; more protests are planned for Thursday - AFP
A Sudanese protester flashes a victory sign and waves a flag during a demonstrations demanding civilian rule in Khartoum on December 25; more protests are planned for Thursday - AFP
TT

Sudan Forces Seal Khartoum Ahead of New Anti-coup Rally

A Sudanese protester flashes a victory sign and waves a flag during a demonstrations demanding civilian rule in Khartoum on December 25; more protests are planned for Thursday - AFP
A Sudanese protester flashes a victory sign and waves a flag during a demonstrations demanding civilian rule in Khartoum on December 25; more protests are planned for Thursday - AFP

Sudanese security forces deployed on Khartoum's streets Thursday, sealing the capital off from its suburbs and cutting mobile internet as opponents of the military government prepared to hold fresh protests.

Pro-democracy activists have kept up a campaign of street demonstrations against the army's October 25 coup despite a crackdown that has seen at least 48 people die in protest-related violence, according to the independent Doctors' Committee.

Army, police and paramilitary patrols criss-crossed Khartoum's streets, while shipping containers blocked the Nile bridges that connect the capital with its northern suburbs and its twin city Omdurman.

The bridges were blocked off for the last protests on December 26, when tens of thousands took to the streets, AFP reported.

But for Thursday's planned protests, new surveillance cameras had been installed on the major thoroughfares along which demonstrators were due to march.

Activists use the internet for organizing demonstrations and broadcasting live footage of the rallies.

The US embassy appealed for restraint from the government led by military chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, which had been counting on a controversial November partnership deal with civilian Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok to calm public anger.

"The US embassy reiterates its support for peaceful expression of democratic aspiration, and the need to respect and protect individuals exercising free speech," a statement said.

"We call for extreme discretion in use of force and urge authorities to refrain from employing arbitrary detention."

Activists have condemned sexual attacks during December 19 protests, in which the UN said at least 13 women and girls were raped.

Hamdok had been held under effective house arrest for weeks before being reinstated under the November deal, which promised elections for July 2023.

But the deal was widely criticized as a gift to the military that gave a cloak of legitimacy to its coup.

Sudan still has no functioning government, a prerequisite for the resumption of international aid cut in response to the coup.

Over 14 million people, a third of Sudan's population, will need humanitarian aid next year, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the highest level for a decade.



Israeli Troops Wound a Protester in Newly Captured Syrian Territory

An Israeli soldier mans a machine gun atop a military vehicle as they leave the buffer zone on the border between Israel and Syria, near the Druze village of Majdal Shams, in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, 20 December 2024. EPA/ATEF SAFADI
An Israeli soldier mans a machine gun atop a military vehicle as they leave the buffer zone on the border between Israel and Syria, near the Druze village of Majdal Shams, in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, 20 December 2024. EPA/ATEF SAFADI
TT

Israeli Troops Wound a Protester in Newly Captured Syrian Territory

An Israeli soldier mans a machine gun atop a military vehicle as they leave the buffer zone on the border between Israel and Syria, near the Druze village of Majdal Shams, in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, 20 December 2024. EPA/ATEF SAFADI
An Israeli soldier mans a machine gun atop a military vehicle as they leave the buffer zone on the border between Israel and Syria, near the Druze village of Majdal Shams, in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, 20 December 2024. EPA/ATEF SAFADI

The Israeli military said its soldiers shot and wounded a protester Friday in the Syrian village of Maariyah.
Since the fall of Bashar Assad’s government in Syria, Israel’s military has occupied several locations in the country along the border with Israel.
During a protest Friday by dozens of Syrians against the Israeli presence in Maariyah, soldiers shot at one man who the military said had approached their position, wounding him in the leg, The Associated Press said.
It said the troops acted “in accordance with standard operating procedures.”
The military said that the Israeli army “is not interfering in events taking place in Syria”.Residents in the area previously told The Associated Press that Israeli forces were preventing farmers from reaching their fields.
Israeli leaders say they will remain in the area indefinitely.