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At least ten people have been killed and around 200 wounded after pro-government forces opened fire on protesters in the heart of Khartoum, a city that has been rocked by anti-government protests throughout the week, according to a doctor who treated victims at Khartoum’s main hospital.
A half dozen of the killed were said to be children. Sporadic anti-government protests continued in the area on Monday, and medics say new clashes broke out near a presidential palace and at the government headquarters.
President Omar al-Bashir came to power in 1989 and has been widely accused of committing gross human rights violations, including multiple documented incidents of killings. He was awarded the 2015 World Statesman of the Year Award by Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government for curbing radical Islam and stamping out opposition, though those who violently oppose his rule continue to be harassed.
Hundreds of anti-government protesters were detained on Monday night in and around Khartoum, according to witnesses. And the state news agency SUNA is reporting that 17 people have been arrested as part of a night-time operation targeting “tribesmen and some financiers of the demonstrations.”
In the midst of the clashes, the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum expressed “deep concern” over reports of fatalities and widespread arrests on its official Twitter feed. The White House weighed in as well, posting a message on Twitter urging activists to “do everything possible to prevent further violence” and urging their “entirely peaceful” protests.
Read the full story at The New York Times.
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