On Saturday, the Sudanese police accused demonstrators of burning down one of its headquarters in Khartoum North, one of the capital’s three cities, but protest activists described what happened as “theatrical”.
Police spokesman Idris Abdullah Liman told The Eastern Herald , “The (headquarters) sector of the police forces’ bases in the Foundation area in Khartoum North, today, was attacked by demonstrators and completely burned.”
He explained that “the headquarters does not open communications, does not include guards, and provides security services to citizens through the telephone service, but the demonstrators attacked it and burned it completely, and it was seriously harmed even though the patrol car was on an external mission.”
On the other hand, the “resistance committees” in the neighborhoods of Khartoum Bahri (consisting of activists) denied, in a statement, the authenticity of the police account.
And she said in a statement: “Today, in a clear play, the putschists began their plans to suggest that the resistance of citizens in the city of Bahri against the coup of (Army Commander Abdel-Fattah) Al-Burhan is not peaceful.”
He added that “the police forces today decided to withdraw from the police station (headquarters) in the Al-Sha’abiyah area, Bahri, the intersection of the institution, and left the section empty even of the guards, as a group of them infiltrated and carried out acts of sabotage and fires to drag the revolutionaries and the street from peacefulness and making a flimsy justification for the expropriation of neighborhoods and homes and excessive repression. “.
The “resistance committees” were formed in cities and villages, following the outbreak of the protests on December 19, 2018, and had the largest role in managing demonstrations in neighborhoods and cities until the army leadership dismissed then President Omar al-Bashir, on April 11, 2019.
And on Saturday, the Sudanese Doctors Committee announced that the death toll from the country’s protests since October 25 has risen to 40 after a protester died of bullet wounds in the demonstrations last Wednesday.
On Thursday, police said they did not shoot at peaceful protesters, and that they were committed to dispersing protests “in accordance with international standards.”
Since last October 25, Sudan has been experiencing a severe crisis, as Al-Burhan declared a state of emergency, dissolved the Sovereignty Councils and the transitional ministers, and dismissed the governors, following the arrest of party leaders, ministers, and officials, in exchange for continuous protests rejecting these measures as a “military coup.”
In return for accusing him of carrying out a military coup, Al-Burhan says that the army is committed to completing the democratic transition process and that it took measures on October 25 to protect the country from a “real danger,” accusing political forces of “inciting chaos.”
