Sudan shuts down internet ahead of protests

Internet and mobile services were interrupted in Sudan this week as thousands of people again took to the streets of the Khartoum on Thursday to protest against military rule, local media reported.

According to BBC News Africa, some bridges between Khartoum and the adjoining cities of Omdurman and Bahri have closed ahead of the rally

Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok resigned on Sunday, amid a political deadlock and widespread protests following a military coup that derailed the country’s fragile transition to democracy. Hamdok said the country was at a “dangerous turning point that threatens its whole survival.”

Furthermore, Sudan’s coup leader rejected calls by the troika on Sudan — comprising the United States, Britain, and Norway — and the European Union (EU) to appoint a new prime minister in accordance with a constitutional declaration which gives the right of his nomination to the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC), the Sudan Tribune reported on Wednesday.

After the resignation of Hamdok, the troika and the EU on Tuesday urged the commander in chief of the Sudanese army, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, to select a prime minister after dialogue with his partners in the transitional authority that has been in place since 2019, the Sudan Tribune reported.
A fresh wave of anti-coup protests flared up across Sudan in December as demonstrators continued to call for an end to the military rule established in early October.

The Sudanese Professionals Association, which led the protests on Thursday, issued a statement the evening before, urging citizens to get involved in demanding civilian rule, Xinhua news agency reported.

More than 50 people have been killed at protests since the coup, including at least two on Sunday, according to the pro-democracy group the Sudan Central Doctors’ Committee.