Sudanese army clash again with security apparatus to protect protesters
April 9, 2019 (KHARTOUM) -Sudanese army for the second time repulsed a new assault by the security services who attempted to drive the protesters by force outside the army headquarters where they have held a sit-in since 6 April.
Also, the army soldiers clashed with the assailants for hours until the dawn.
The protesters, men and women who spent the night inside the military headquarters broadcasted live videos through the social media. The clips show military vehicles going out of the premises of the army command also was heard the sound of bullets firing.
The peaceful protesters launched calls for the Sudanese to join them at the army headquarters to back the military and to continue the sit-in.
Sudanese First Vice-President Awad Ibn Ouf who is also the Defence Minister Monday said the army and the security apparatus are coordinating and there is no conflict on how t deal with the protesters.
“There are parties trying to exploit the current situation to create a rift in the armed forces and create strife between the components of the security system in the country,” Ibn Ouf said following a briefing he held with the army command.
However, the clashes in the early morning of Tuesday confirm that the Sudanese military disagree with the approach of the political leadership on how to deal with the protests.
Also, it hits that the high ranking commanders are not able to make their voice heard, and at the same time, they do not want to confront the medium ranking officers who command the troops.
Unconfirmed reports claim that the assailants are in fact the notorious militiamen of the ruling National Congress Party known as “the Popular Security”.
Last December and January, they had been deployed and committed atrocities against the protesters before to prevent them from taking part in the crackdown of protests.
There is no official statement about the human causalities of the clashes until now but eyewitnesses give various statements between 3 to 14 people and army soldiers killed during the night clashes.
The Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA) directed in a message released this morning its medical teams to go immediately to the army headquarters.
The group which coordinate the protests further called on the Sudanese to protest across the country and to hold sit-ins at the premises of the army command in the different states.
“We are the only guarantors of the success of our revolution and nobody else (…) as the regime commits these crimes under the eyes of the international community,” said the SPA in a statement released on Tuesday morning.
(ST)