KHARTOUM, 18 January 2022, (TON): Activists said “Sudanese security forces opened fire on protesters Monday, killing at least seven people and wounding around 100 others in the country’s capital in one of the deadliest days since an October military coup.”

Thousands had once again flooded the streets of Khartoum and elsewhere in Sudan to denounce the Oct. 25 military takeover that scuttled hopes of a peaceful transition to democracy.

The coup came more than two years after a popular uprising forced the removal of longtime autocrat Omar Al-Bashir and his Islamist government in April 2019.

The turmoil has been amplified after Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok stepped down earlier this month. Hamdok, the civilian face of Sudan’s transitional government, resigned after his efforts to bridge the gap between the generals and the country’s pro-democracy movement failed.

Monday’s deaths bring to at least 71 the number of people killed in near-daily demonstrations in Khartoum and other cities and towns in Sudan.

Footage circulating online shows protesters, mostly young people, marching in the streets of Khartoum and its twin city of Omdurman. There were also protests in Port Sudan, Wad Madani Obaid and the western Darfur region.

Protester Hamed Al-Ser said “I’m here today to resist the military coup.”

He added “we hope our free revolution reaches the democratic civilian path.”