Teen shot dead in Sudan anti-coup protest after Hamdok reinstated

A 16 year old has died after being shot in the head by security forces in the Sudanese city of Omdurman, the Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors said in a statement.

The incident on Sunday took place during protests that continued despite the reinstatement of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok in a political agreement with military leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who promised to release all political detainees after weeks of deadly unrest triggered by a coup.

Under the agreement, Hamdok, first appointed after the overthrow of longtime leader Omar al-Bashir in a 2019 uprising, will lead a civilian government of technocrats for a transitional period.

The deal faces opposition from pro-democracy groups that have demanded full civilian rule. A hero for the protest movement, Hamdok quickly became the villain for some.

“Hamdok has sold the revolution,” protesters chanted after the deal was announced.

The Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA), a leading protest group, called it “treacherous”.

Tens of thousands of people joined scheduled rallies in the capital, Khartoum, and its twin cities of Omdurman and Bahri. Security forces fired bullets and tear gas to disperse them, witnesses told Reuters news agency.

“Hamdok has disappointed us. Our only option is the street,” Omar Ibrahim, a 26-year-old protester in Khartoum, said.

The coup triggered mass demonstrations against the military. Sunday’s killing brings to 41 the toll of people who have died in protests since the military coup on October 25, the Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors, which is aligned with the protest movement, said.

After an agreement was reached, Hamdok said he had agreed to the deal to prevent more casualties.

“Sudanese blood is precious, let us stop the bloodshed and direct the youth’s energy into building and development,” he said at a signing ceremony broadcast on state television.

Al-Burhan said the deal would be inclusive. “We do not want to exclude anyone except, as we’ve agreed, the National Congress Party,” he said, referring to al-Bashir’s former ruling party.

However, the agreement made no mention of the Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC), the civilian coalition that shared power with the military before the coup.

The FFC said it did not recognise any agreement with the armed forces.

“We affirm our clear and previously announced position: no negotiation and no partnership and no legitimacy for the putschists,” the alliance in a statement.

Those who carried out and backed the coup should face justice, it said.

Several of the resistance committees that have been organising protests also put out statements rejecting any deal with the military.

Hamdok was placed under house arrest when the military seized power, derailing a transition towards elections in 2023.

The military dissolved Hamdok’s cabinet and detained a number of civilians who held top positions under the power-sharing deal agreed after al-Bashir was toppled.

Under Sunday’s deal, a constitutional declaration struck between the military and civilians in 2019 will remain the foundation in further talks.

Western powers that had backed Sudan’s political transition condemned last month’s takeover and suspended economic assistance to Sudan, which has been trying to recover from a deep economic crisis.

The United Nations welcomed Sunday’s deal but said all sides needed “to urgently address unresolved issues to complete the political transition in an inclusive manner, with respect for human rights and the rule of law”.

“We also expect that all those arrested on or after 25 October will be released immediately as a first gesture to implement this agreement,” the UN Sudan mission said.