AT LEAST 35 protesters were killed and hundreds wounded when Sudan’s military rulers broke up a sit-in outside army headquarters in Khartoum yesterday, a local doctors’ union has said.

“The number of people who were killed by the Military Council in front of the military headquarters has risen to more than 35 people. Hundreds are wounded,” a new toll published overnight by the Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors said.

An eight-year-old child was among those killed, the organisation said. It called for “urgent support” from humanitarian organisations to help the wounded.

Sudan’s military today cancelled a power-transfer agreement with protesters and called for elections within nine months, a day after forcefully breaking up the weeks-long sit-in.

The Transitional Military Council ousted president Omar al-Bashir in April after months of protests against his authoritarian rule and had agreed a three-year transition period to a civilian administration.

But army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan announced in a televised statement the plan had been ditched and an election would take place under “regional and international supervision”.

“The military council decides on the following: cancelling what was agreed on and stopping negotiating with the Alliance for Freedom and Change, and to call for general elections within a period not exceeding nine months,” Burhan said.

Dozens of demonstrators were killed and hundreds more wounded yesterday in the bloody crackdown outside Khartoum’s army headquarters, which was met with sharp international condemnation.

Heavily armed members of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces were deployed around the capital, guarding entrances to the bridges that cross the Nile, and moved in convoys around the city.

‘Brutal’ crackdown 

The United States called it a “brutal” crackdown on protesters, who want the generals behind the overthrow of al-Bashir to hand over to civilian rule.

Antonio Guterres, the United Nations Secretary-General, condemned the excessive use of force against protesters and called for an independent investigation.

The UN Security Council will meet behind closed doors today to discuss the situation, after Britain and Germany requested the talks, diplomats said.

Footage from the Royal Care hospital earlier today near the site of the sit-in showed people on the floors of the wards receiving treatment as men in uniforms sitting in pickup trucks gathered outside.

An AFP correspondent said the streets of the capital were largely empty last night, a time the city is usually busy.

- © AFP 2019