The Sudanese security forces are trying to put an end to the movement to oppose the coup d'état of General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane.

At the end of the day Wednesday, they faced demonstrators determined to maintain the barricades of their "general strike".

Clashes took place in particular in the bustling district of Bourri, in the east of Khartoum where hundreds of demonstrators threw stones, or in the suburb of Khartoum-North where the security forces used tear gas and rubber bullets.

The muzzling of the opposition has intensified as one of the leaders of Sudan's largest party, the Umma, was arrested, along with activists and protesters in Khartoum.

In the evening, the Ministry of Information, loyal to the ousted government, said in a statement that the security forces were tightening their control over the capital: “Neighborhoods and streets were blocked by armored vehicles and men carrying guns ”and“ women dragged ”to the ground.

He also urged the international community to investigate violations against peaceful protesters.

The UN calls for "a return to the transition process"

Abroad, the African Union and the World Bank have increased the pressure on the army: the first suspended Sudan from its institutions and the second ceased its aid, vital for this poor country plunged into economic stagnation. and plagued by conflict.

At the UN, spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said that the UN envoy to Sudan, Volker Perthes, had met General Burhane and Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok on Wednesday, who “is not free to move around”.

Volker Perthes "reaffirmed" to General Burhane that the UN is demanding "a return to the transition process" and "of course the immediate release of all those who have been arbitrarily arrested".

Four protesters killed

The army authorized the return on Tuesday to his home in Khartoum of Mr. Hamdok, arrested after the putsch on Monday with most of the civilians who made up the transitional power.

But he remains "under close surveillance" according to his office.

"Hamdok could not communicate or meet" his political supporters, "added the Ministry of Information.

In Khartoum, pick-ups rotate with members of the security forces, all armed but in civilian clothes.

"They look exactly like Bashir's security forces," said Hanaa Hassan, a demonstrator, referring to General Omar al-Bashir, who after a coup in 1989 ruled for 30 years without sharing.

Four protesters were killed and more than 80 wounded Monday by gunfire, according to doctors.

For Westerners, Hamdok Is Still Prime Minister

In an attempt to explain his coup, General Burhane invoked on Tuesday the risk of "civil war". But the Western ambassadors have repeated that, for them, "Mr. Hamdok is still the Prime Minister and his government the constitutional power". Mr. Hamdok, civilian face of the transition in Sudan, spoke on Tuesday with the head of US diplomacy Antony Blinken and Wednesday with the head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell.

“We don't want Sudan to go back to the dark hours of its history,” tweeted Josep Borrell.

Antony Blinken further spoke to Sudanese Foreign Minister Mariam al-Sadeq al-Mahdi on Wednesday, according to the State Department, "to solicit his views on steps the United States can take to support the Sudanese people in their call for a transition to civilian led democracy ”.

Moscow, on the other hand, believes that the coup d'etat is "the logical result of a failed policy", while the UN Security Council has not been able to agree on a joint declaration on the putsch.

Big event scheduled for Saturday

Activists called on social media for a "demonstration of a million people" on Saturday.

Protesters say they won't leave the streets until civilian power returns to a country that has long lived under the rule of the military.

At the end of 2018 and 2019, they had camped for months until they forced the army to dismiss President Bashir.

More than 250 people died in the repression of the revolt.

Two years later, "the protest movement has learned from its mistakes and is now more sophisticated," says the International Crisis Group, as activists have "a network of local committees across the country that can organize themselves effectively, even without Internet ”.

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