KHARTOUM, Sudan — Sudanese security forces in pickup trucks opened fire Saturday on hundreds of mourners marching after the funeral of a protester killed a day earlier, the latest violence in a week of demonstrations calling for the ouster of longtime President Omar al-Bashir.
The man killed was a pharmacist from a prominent family, suggesting the heavy security crackdown could deepen discontent, spread unrest and upset the complex network of power centers al-Bashir relies upon to stay in power.
Three female protesters interviewed separately said dozens of pickup trucks and security forces surrounded them in a main street in the capital Khartoum before firing tear gas and live ammunition.
It was not possible to independently verify their account, but Sudanese activists and international rights groups say government security forces have routinely used live fire against protesters, often aimed at the head and torso. One of the three women was waiting at a hospital where she said two relatives were being treated for gunshot wounds.
The violent crackdown that aims to quash Sudan’s most extensive street demonstrations in two decades could now be propelling them, activists said.
“The excessive use of force means that the regime is becoming bare of any political cover and it is declaring a war against its own people,” said Khaled Omar, a member of the Change Now youth movement, one of the groups calling for protests. “This will backfire internally, inside the regime itself and cause cracks within and lead to its collapse,” he said.
The protests, which erupted last Sunday, were initially triggered by the lifting of fuel and wheat subsidies. Over the past few days, demands have escalated to call for the resignation of al-Bashir, who has ruled for 24 years.
“The cars came from the back and the front while we were marching in the street,” another female protester said. “The tear gas was very strong. The people fled trying to escape.”
Earlier in the day, women, crying and hugging, blocked a side street to prevent police from deploying to the funeral of 26-year-old pharmacist Salah al-Sanhouri. His family says he was shot outside his pharmacy as a march went by Friday, on the same street where the protest came under attack again Saturday.
The death toll from a week of protests is contested. Amnesty International and the African Center for Justice and Peace Studies say they have documented 50 deaths on Tuesday and Wednesday alone. Youth activists and doctors at a Khartoum hospital said that at least 100 people have been killed since Monday. Sudanese police have reported at least 30 deaths nationwide.
