Sudanese security forces on Monday fired on student demonstrators in a central province, killing at least five people, protest organizers said.
The demonstration in Obeid, in North Kordofan Province, was organized by high-school students to protest military rule, the Sudanese Doctors Central Committee said, adding that several people were wounded, some critically.
The committee is part of the Sudanese Professionals’ Association (SPA), which spearheaded months of protests leading to the military overthrow of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir in April.
The protesters have continued to take to the streets, demanding a swift transition to civilian rule.
The SPA posted a video showing hundreds of students, many wearing backpacks, protesting in Obeid as gunshots echo in the background.
The group called for Sudanese to take part in demonstrations in the capital, Khartoum, and elsewhere to condemn the violence.
Mustafa Mohammed, a doctor at the main Obeid Hospital, said that it had received five bodies and was treating dozens of wounded students.
“Most of the wounded have been shot in the legs, head and stomach,” he said.
Local authorities suspended classes in all schools across North Kordofan and declared a nightly curfew in parts of the province “until further notice.”
North Kordofan Governor Major General al-Sadiq Abdallah said that he formed a fact-finding committee to investigate the violence and vowed to bring those responsible before a court.
UN International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) condemned the violence against school children and called for authorities to hold the perpetrators accountable.
“The children, aged between 15 and 17 years old, were protesting the commencement of the school year amid the political uncertainty in Sudan,” UNICEF representative Abdullah Fadil said. “No child should be buried in their school uniform.”
The protest coalition said the crackdown was carried out by the military and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary unit that grew out of the feared Janjaweed militias unleashed during the Darfur conflict in the 2000s.
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