187 Protesters Wounded as Sudanese Forces Loot Civilians’ Belongings

March 17, 2022 (KHARTOUM) – 187 Sudanese protesters were wounded on Thursday when police used live rounds and tear gas to disperse demonstrations against deteriorating economic conditions, a medical group said.

The Resistance Committees organised demonstrations to protest the sharp deterioration of the economic situation in the country after the military coup of October 2021. The protesters chanted slogans calling to hand over power to civilians.

“187 people were wounded, including 70 injured by scattered gunshots, likely from a cartridge weapon. There are three unstable cases in intensive care,” said the Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors.

The Independent group underscored that these figures do not include wounded protesters who were treated by medical teams on the ground.

Also, the detailed report mentioned car attacks by the security forces against protesters.

The pro-democracy political and social forces organise regular protests against the military rulers who seized power after refusing to hand over the chairmanship of the transitional collegial presidency to a civilian and to implement security reforms ending their privileges.

The army commander in chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan after the coup imposed the state of emergency and gave immunity to security forces tasked with the repression of protesters.

Attacks on civilians

On Thursday, the government uniformed forces for the first time and without apparent reason stormed the Stack Medical Research Laboratories and attacked its medical staff before stealing their mobile phones.

They also attacked an ambulance transporting a wounded protester in central Khartoum. This is not the first time that such assaults take place in the capital.

The Unified Office of Sudanese Doctors condemned the “barbaric disruption of the work of the (blood) bank, endangering the lives of thousands of patients”.

The government forces also looted and carried out robbery attacks on civilians after stopping their cars under the pretext of search operations. Several videos were released on social media showing armed uniformed force stopping vehicles in Khartoum streets beating them and stealing their belongings, phones and money.

The Sudanese Professional Association slammed the looting attacks by the government forces. The group pledged to bring the perpetrators of these crimes to justice after the fall of the military regime saying they have documented these attacks.

The spearhead of the December revolution warned that these systematic and continuous violations by the coup forces threaten security, social peace and the cohesion of the national fabric.

The SPA said similar attacks took place in several towns in eastern, western and central parts of the country including Port Sudan, Nyala, Ad-Damazin, Atbara and Madani.

(ST)