Sudan coup: Girl, 13, killed as security forces open fire on rally

A girl aged 13 was shot in the head and killed when security forces in Sudan opened fired on a pro-democracy rally protesting against last month’s coup.

The teenager was named by local media as Remaaz Hatim al-Atta who, witnesses said, was standing at her front door in the capital Khartoum when she was shot. Two 15-year-olds were also among at least seven civilians killed when security forces opened fire on the crowd and used tear gas.

Tens of thousands of people flooded the streets of Khartoum, and other cities to protest against the power grab by Sudan’s military chief, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who has consolidated his grip on the country since the takeover on October 25, which upended Sudan’s transition to civilian rule.

In defiance of international condemnation and threats to cut aid, the general has appointed a new ruling body with himself at the helm. None of the civilians he had shared power with since the toppling of Omar al-Bashir in 2019 is included.

At least 22 demonstrators have been killed in crackdowns on protests over the past three weeks, the Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors, a pressure group, said following the latest mass gathering on Saturday, in which more than 200 people were injured, most of them suffering gunshot wounds. The chaos and barbed wire road blocks set up by the army made it more difficult for the injured to reach help.

An internet blackout, imposed after the general’s ousting of the civilian prime minister, Abdalla Hamdok, and detention of other non-military ministers has frustrated efforts to organise resistance. Yesterday a judge issued a third order for providers to restore connections.

The council is expected to name a new prime minister after efforts to mediate between the military and Hamdok stalled.

Hamdok, who is under house arrest, had demanded the release of other politicians arrested during the coup and a return to power sharing before elections in 2023.

Jake Sullivan, President Biden’s national security adviser, called on the army in a tweet “to refrain from further unilateral action that will set back Sudan’s hard-won progress to rejoin the international community”.

Yesterday the European Union condemned “in the strongest terms the violence perpetrated against peaceful civilian protesters” on Saturday, and said it was “very worried” about the detention of journalists.

“The interventions by the military since 25 October last are undoing much of the progress achieved under the civilian-led government,” the bloc said in a statement. “This will have serious consequences for the support of the European Union.”

Separately, a group that represents refugees and displaced people in the western Darfur region, where security has deteriorated in recent months, said that four civilians had been killed in several incidents over the past week and a refugee camp had been attacked.

A fresh day of demonstrations is planned for Wednesday.