Sudanese security forces raided the home of Al Jazeera’s Khartoum bureau chief and arrested him on Sunday, the Qatar-based news channel said, a day after street protests across Sudan against a military takeover.
Security forces used tear gas and gunfire to try to disperse the protests in the capital Khartoum and other cities.
The Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors, which is aligned with the protest movement, said the number of demonstrators killed on Saturday had risen to seven with the death of a 13-year-old girl from a bullet wound to her head.
More than 200 people were injured, more than 100 of them from gunshot wounds, the committee said. At least 11 were in serious condition.
The death toll for those killed in protests since the October 25 coup was 22, they said.
South Sudan’s government says it is hopeful that lasting peace will soon return to Sudan:
Pro-democracy groups led by neighbourhood resistance committees are organising a campaign of civil disobedience and protests against military rule, with another day of demonstrations planned for November 17.
The coup ended a military-civilian power-sharing arrangement set up after the overthrow of autocratic ruler Omar al-Bashir in 2019.
Western powers that had backed Sudan’s political transition towards elections after Bashir’s ouster have condemned the military takeover and suspended economic assistance.
The European Union on Sunday condemned “in the strongest terms the violence perpetrated against peaceful civilian protesters” on Saturday, and said it was “very worried” by the detention of journalists.
