3 protesters killed amid civilian disobedience in Sudan

Khartoum (Sudan), June 9 (IANS) At least three civilians were killed in clashes with security forces in Omdurman and Khartoum North on Sunday, as the opposition called for civilian disobedience across Sudan, according to a Efe news report.

The Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors (CCSD), an opposition union that has been reporting on the people who have been killed or injured since the protests started in December, announced in a statement: "A few hours ago, two people passed away in the Military Hospital, having been beaten and stabbed by the Janjaweed militia."

The Janjaweed militia is the name given to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that have been involved in the Darfur conflict. "There are also a number of other injuries that have been treated," the CCSD added.

A spokesperson for the committee, Oman al-Tahir, told Efe that two people set up a barricade in a street and a clash resulted when the RSF tried to move it away.

Subsequently both protestors were severely injured and after being transported to a military hospital they died of their wounds.

Meanwhile, another man was shot in the chest and died in Khartoum North, the CCSD reported, without providing more details.

This brings the number of deaths that have been registered since Monday to 117, when the military led by RSF dismantled a sit-in held for nearly two months in front of the army headquarters in Khartoum.

The opposition called for civil disobedience across the country on Sunday to protest the attack and violence that followed against demonstrators.

On Sunday, there was barely any traffic in the Sudanese capital and several groups of protesters tried to cut the main avenues, something security forces impeded.

The Khartoum airport, meanwhile, was operating normally although some of the staff did not go to work, deputy director of the airdrome operator Abbas Saadaldin told Efe.

Saadaldin explained the lack of staff was due to the long vacations workers at the airport tend to take after Eid ul-Fitr, which marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Sudan is a Muslim-majority nation.

However, the Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA), a group that has led the protests, released on its official Facebook account photos of abandoned luggage at the airport and confirmed that this was a result of the workers' strike. The SPA also published photos of closed stores and bank branches.

The protest comes two days after Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed tried to mediate and convince the political opposition and the ruling military council -- who has been running the country since the ousting of Omar al-Bashir on April 11 -- to resume dialogue.

The talks between the involved parties had reached a dead-end and were called off after the incidents that took place this week that left 61 dead, according to government figures.