Sharjah24 – AFP: Sudanese anti-coup protesters are planning mass demonstrations Saturday against a military takeover that has derailed the country's transition to civilian rule and triggered deadly clashes.
The power grab has sparked a chorus of international condemnation, with the US and the United Nations urging Sudan's military leaders to show restraint.
General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan -- Sudan's de facto leader since the 2019 ouster of veteran autocrat Omar al-Bashir after huge youth-led protests -- led Monday's takeover.
He has dissolved the country's civilian-led government, ordered the detention of a number of top civilian officials and declared a nationwide state of emergency.
At least eight protesters have been killed and some 170 wounded in clashes with security forces, who have fired tear gas, live rounds and rubber-tipped bullets, according to medics.
Several pro-democracy activists have been arrested.
But on the eve of Saturday's rallies, a US official put the death toll at between 20 and 30, adding that the protests will be a "real test" of the intentions of Sudan's military.
"We call on the security forces to refrain from any and all violence against protesters and to fully respect the citizens' right to demonstrate peacefully," the official said in Washington on condition of anonymity.
In Sudan, where organisers hope to hold a "million-strong" march against the coup, the mood was defiant.
"We will not be ruled by the military. That is the message we will convey" at the protests, said Sudanese rights activist Tahani Abbas.
"The military forces are bloody and unjust and we are anticipating what is about to happen on the streets," Abbas said. "But we are no longer afraid."
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