State oil company workers and doctors in Sudan said they were joining protests against the military coup that has derailed the country’s planned transition to democracy.
Furious Sudanese protests against a military coup have entered a third day, with the prime minister returned home under guard after intense international condemnation of the army’s power grab.
Demonstrations continued on Wednesday despite security forces arresting several protesters and tearing down makeshift barricades, including clearing rocks and tyres blocking roads in the capital Khartoum.
Workers at state oil company Sudapet came out in support of the ousted government and doctors also said they would go on strike.
“As we promised and previously announced we would enter a general strike across Sudan in the event of a coup, we are keeping to our word and timing completely,” the Unified Doctors’ Office, which is made up of different unions, said.
Khartoum International Airport will reopen on Wednesday at 4:00 pm (1400 GMT), the head of Sudanese civil aviation said, after its closure on Monday.
Internet services have been blocked. Shops around the capital were shuttered following calls for a campaign of civil disobedience, with the Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA) calling for “million-strong protests” on October 30.
READ MORE: Sudan’s ousted PM escorted back home as world opinion grows against coup
Long-simmering instability
The deposed prime minister of Sudan, Abdalla Hamdok, and his wife were returned home “under close surveillance,” his office said on Tuesday, while other ministers and civilian leaders remain under full military arrest.
But the return of Hamdok to his residence did little to appease the protests, with police firing tear gas to break them up.
Since top General Abdel Fattah al Burhan on Monday ordered the dissolution of the government and declared a state of emergency, thousands of citizens have maintained protests, chanting “No to military rule”.
At least six people have been killed in protests so far, according to doctors.
The coup comes after a rocky two-year transition outlined in an August 2019 power-sharing deal between military and civilians after the ouster of longtime leader Omar al Bashir on the back of mass protests against his rule.
Burhan, who became de facto head of state in 2019 as leader of the joint military-civilian Sovereign Council, was also a senior general during Bashir’s three-decade long hardline rule, and has the support of Sudan’s much feared paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
Tensions had long simmered between the civilian and military sides, but divisions ratcheted up after what the government said was a failed coup on September 21 this year.
READ MORE: Who are Rapid Support Forces, the coup enablers in Sudan?
Source: TRTWorld and agencies
Sudan’s protesters defiant on third day of military coup
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