The Sudanese capital, Khartoum, witnessed the closure of shops, offices and roadblocks in a number of neighborhoods, in response to calls for a general strike and civil disobedience, starting today, Tuesday, for two days, in protest of the killing of 7 demonstrators yesterday, while the authorities announced the formation of a committee to investigate the circumstances of the victims.

The protesters set up barricades in a number of neighborhoods of the capital, and Reuters news agency said that about half of the shops and stores in eastern and southern Khartoum seemed closed today, including pharmacies, restaurants and shops selling building materials, but added that banks were not significantly affected.

The barriers, which were erected since this morning, obstructed access to some main roads in the east and south of Khartoum and the cities of Khartoum North and Omdurman.

Protesters set tires on fire.

School students demonstrated in Khartoum North and Omdurman in protest against the killing of demonstrators.


Protests were held in other parts of Sudan, where eyewitnesses reported a gathering of protesters in the market of the city of Kassala in the east of the country, and university students in the city of Roseires in the southeastern Blue Nile state protested against the killing of one of their colleagues in the demonstrations that took place in Khartoum yesterday.

At the same time, the universities of Khartoum and Sudan announced the suspension of studies for two days in response to calls for strikes and civil disobedience.

The neighborhood resistance committees, the Sudanese Professionals Association and the Central Council of the Forces for Freedom and Change called for the strike after the killing of 7 protesters in Khartoum on Monday, in one of the bloodiest days in the wave of demonstrations against the decisions of the army leadership and its control of power since last October 25.

The resistance committees in Khartoum state said in a statement, "It is necessary to resist them until we win or they rule an empty country after they kill us all."

The police respond to the accusations

For its part, the police confirmed today the death of the seven dead, but said that they used minimal force.

"This was met with intense hostility and confrontations characterized by organized violence," she added.

The Chairman of the Transitional Sovereign Council, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, issued a decision to form a fact-finding committee regarding the events that occurred during yesterday’s demonstrations, provided that its membership is from the regular agencies and the Public Prosecution.

The decision set the committee 72 hours to present the results.

The Security and Defense Council headed by Al-Burhan said that the council ordered an investigation into what he described as the violent and non-violent events that accompanied the demonstrations, and to hold those involved accountable in accordance with the emergency law and the criminal law.

The council also decided to establish a "special force to combat terrorism," which it said would counter potential threats.

On the other hand, the Central Council of the Forces for Freedom and Change said that what it described as the suppression of the demonstrators would thwart the United Nations initiative and any other initiative to resolve the crisis in the country.

The Central Council held the Sudanese Sovereign Council responsible for the violence and the killing of peaceful demonstrators.