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Two protesters in Sudan were shot dead by troops on Saturday, the country’s Central Doctors Committee has said.
The reported deaths happened in the capital Khartoum’s twin city of Omdurman as hundreds of thousands of people marched in Khartoum in protest against this week’s military coup, calling for a restoration of civilian rule, Reuters witnesses said.
The report came after the United Nations and the United States urged Sudan’s top generals to show restraint and avoid confrontation as pro-democracy protesters began pouring on to the streets.
Pro-democracy groups called for mass protest marches across the country on Saturday to press demands for reinstating a deposed transitional government and releasing senior political figures from detention.
The military’s takeover has threatened Sudan’s fragile Western-backed transition to democracy, which got under way more than two years ago.
In 2019, a popular uprising forced the removal of long-time autocrat Omar al-Bashir and his Islamist-allied government after nearly three decades in power.
The UN special envoy for Sudan, Volker Perthes, met on Friday with General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, a coup leader seen as close to Sudan’s strongman, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.
Gen Dagalo commands the feared Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary unit that controls the streets of the capital of Khartoum and played a major role in the coup.
The RSF is notorious for atrocities during the conflict in Sudan’s Darfur region and for deadly attacks on pro-democracy protesters in 2019.
Mr Perthes said in a message posted on Twitter that he “stressed the need for calm, allowing peaceful protest and avoiding any confrontation” in his talks with Gen Dagalo.



Protest in Khartoum. Photograph: Marwan Ali/AP


In a separate statement, Mr Perthes said the UN’s transition mission “is actively co-ordinating with mediation efforts currently under way to facilitate an inclusive dialogue, which remains the only path towards a peaceful solution to the current crisis”.
The protests are likely to increase pressure on the generals, who already face mounting condemnations from the US and other Western countries to restore a civilian-led government.
Jeffrey Feltman, the US special envoy to the Horn of Africa, warned against violence towards peaceful protesters in a phone call with Gen Burhan.
“The Sudanese people must be allowed to protest peacefully this weekend, and the United States will be watching closely,” he said.
Samantha Power, administrator of the US Agency for International Development, also warned about violence against the protesters supporting the democratic transition in Sudan.
“Leaders from around the world, including the US, are making very clear to the military: the Sudanese people must be allowed to protest peacefully,” she said on Twitter.
Since the military takeover, there have been daily street protests.
At least nine people have been killed by security forces’ gunfire, according to the Sudan Doctors’ Committee and activists. At least 170 others have been injured, according to the UN.
Gen Burhan has claimed that the takeover was necessary to prevent a civil war, citing what he said were growing divisions among political groups.
However, the takeover came less than a month before he was to have handed the leadership of the Sovereign Council, the main decision-making body in Sudan, to a civilian.
Such a step would have lessened the military’s grip on the country. The council had both civilian and military members.
As part of the coup, Gen Burhan dismissed the council and the transitional government, led by prime minister Abdalla Hamdok, that was in charge of day-to-day affairs.
He also imposed a state of emergency across the country and military authorities largely cut off internet and mobile phone services. – Associated Press