Sudan Protests Escalate in Demand for Civilian Rule

Protests in Khartoum, Sudan (AFP)
Protests in Khartoum, Sudan (AFP)
TT

Sudan Protests Escalate in Demand for Civilian Rule

Protests in Khartoum, Sudan (AFP)
Protests in Khartoum, Sudan (AFP)

Thousands of citizens protested in Khartoum on Monday denouncing the violence during Omdurman's rallies a day before that left a protester shot dead with live bullets and dozens injured.

The protesters demanded accountability for those involved in the killing of peaceful civilians in the rallies that have taken place in the country since last October.

Omdurman Resistance Committees announced a million-strong march on Martyr Abdel Azim Street to assert the city's support of the mass movement calling for civilian rule.

Security forces and police used tear gas and stun grenades to disperse the protesters who used barricades to protect the march and prevent the security forces from advancing.

Khartoum's Resistance Committees announced popular movements in cities and neighborhoods denouncing the security services' use of excessive violence against peaceful demonstrators.

The Bahri Resistance Committees organized a large march from the al-Moassas area across the Shambat bridge to Martyr Abdel Azim Street to participate in the million-march, expressing their solidarity with Omdurman civilians against police brutality.

The protesters chanted against the military coup, calling for civilian authorities and returning to the democratic transition path through a civilian-led government.

Thousands gathered in a massive protest in eastern Khartoum and marched from the neighborhoods to al-Mashtal Street.

The Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors (CCSD), a non-governmental organization, accused the Sudanese security services of using lethal force against peaceful protests, including killing one person and injuring dozens.

The Committee also accused security forces of obstructing roads and preventing the injured from arriving at hospitals to receive aid, putting some at risk.

In its report on the events of Omdurman, CCSD stated that about 77 people were injured, including three shot with live bullets and 53 with scattered shells. Many protesters were wounded by tear gas canisters and hard objects.

Meanwhile, the Trilateral Mechanism announced its deep concerns about the continued use of excessive forces in protests.

The Mechanism includes United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS), African Union, and Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).

In a statement Sunday, the Trilateral Mechanism warned against the use of excessive force by the Sudanese security forces against peaceful protests and called for credible investigations into the violence.

"The Trilateral Mechanism has consistently called on authorities to stop the violence, release all detainees including members and leaders of resistance committees, stop all arrests, and lift the State of Emergency. Credible investigations of all incidents of violence must also be carried out,” the statement said.

"Creating these conducive conditions are critical for the success of the political process and must be done as a matter of urgency."

In conclusion, the Mechanism, "as facilitators of intra-Sudanese talks, reiterates its readiness to support Sudanese efforts to reach a political solution as soon as possible leading to a return to constitutional order and democratic transition."

More than 96 people were killed, and hundreds were injured during protests against the army's seizure of power in the country.



WHO Sends Over 1 Mln Polio Vaccines to Gaza to Protect Children 

Displaced Palestinians, who fled their houses due to Israeli strikes, look out from a window as they take shelter, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, July 24, 2024. (Reuters)
Displaced Palestinians, who fled their houses due to Israeli strikes, look out from a window as they take shelter, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, July 24, 2024. (Reuters)
TT

WHO Sends Over 1 Mln Polio Vaccines to Gaza to Protect Children 

Displaced Palestinians, who fled their houses due to Israeli strikes, look out from a window as they take shelter, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, July 24, 2024. (Reuters)
Displaced Palestinians, who fled their houses due to Israeli strikes, look out from a window as they take shelter, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, July 24, 2024. (Reuters)

The World Health Organization is sending more than one million polio vaccines to Gaza to be administered over the coming weeks to prevent children being infected after the virus was detected in sewage samples, its chief said on Friday.

"While no cases of polio have been recorded yet, without immediate action, it is just a matter of time before it reaches the thousands of children who have been left unprotected," Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in an opinion piece in Britain's The Guardian newspaper.

He wrote that children under five were most at risk from the viral disease, and especially infants under two since normal vaccination campaigns have been disrupted by more than nine months of conflict.

Poliomyelitis, which is spread mainly through the fecal-oral route, is a highly infectious virus that can invade the nervous system and cause paralysis. Cases of polio have declined by 99% worldwide since 1988 thanks to mass vaccination campaigns and efforts continue to eradicate it completely.

Israel's military said on Sunday it would start offering the polio vaccine to soldiers serving in the Gaza Strip after remnants of the virus were found in test samples in the enclave.

Besides polio, the UN reported last week a widespread increase in cases of Hepatitis A, dysentery and gastroenteritis as sanitary conditions deteriorate in Gaza, with sewage spilling into the streets near some camps for displaced people.