Date: Jan 11, 2019
Source: The Daily Star
Sudan activists say three protesters killed in clashes
Associated Press
CAIRO: Three Sudanese protesters were killed in clashes between police and demonstrators calling on longtime President Omar al-Bashir to step down, activists said Thursday, in the most violent protests seen in the Sudanese capital since anti-government demonstrations erupted across much of Sudan three weeks ago. They said the three were killed Wednesday in Omdurman, twin city of the Sudanese capital Khartoum, where several thousand protesters tried to march on Parliament to submit a note demanding that Bashir resign. They said eight others were injured. They said police used tear gas and fired in the air to disperse the protesters, the latest such clashes in weeks of anti-government demonstrations initially sparked by price rises and shortages.

The activists said at least two of the three died of gunshot wounds in what they described as the most violent clashes between police and protesters since the unrest began on Dec 19.

Protesters and the police fought pitched battles well after nightfall, with riot police chasing protesters into small side streets only for them to regroup and try and resume their attempt to reach the Nile-side Parliament building in Omdurman.

Omdurman is a traditional bastion of dissent and is a stronghold of supporters of the large but fractured Umma party of former Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi.

Late last month, Sudanese authorities said 19 people, including two members of the security forces, were killed in clashes and more than 800 protesters detained. But Human Rights Watch said Tuesday that at least 40 people have been killed.

Bashir has sought to justify the killing of protesters on religious grounds.