Sudanese security forces shot dead patient inside hospital in Khartoum

KHARTOUM – A stray bullet killed a patient inside a hospital in Khartoum State where large numbers of demonstrators broke the security cordon established by the police authorities to prevent them from reaching the square of the presidential palace.

On February 20, the Resistance Committees organized an anti-coup protest nearly forces months after the dissolution of the transitional government by the Sudanese Army Commander in Chief Lt Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.

In a press release after the protests, the Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors (CCSD) stated that some 92 protesters were injured as the result of the excessive use of violence against the demonstrations in the three cities of the capital, Khartoum, Khartoum North (Bahri) and Omdurman.

71 protesters were injured by bullets and tear gas canisters in Khartoum, 18 in Khartoum North and three in Omdurman according to the independent medical group.

In a separate statement, the CCSD further said that an inpatient in Bahri Teaching Hospital recovering from leg amputation surgery was killed by a bullet that hit him in the chest while he went out to the ward’s balcony fleeing the tear gas fired by the security forces.

The death of the inpatient brings to 82 the death toll of people killed since the military coup of October 25, 2021.

Last week, al-Burhan said they issued clear instructions forbidding the use of live ammunition against protesters except near the “strategic sites” including the presidential palace, the council of ministers and the parliament and strict conditions.

The security authorities have detained over 150 activists mainly from the Resistance Committee with the hope to end their regular protests with this preventive detention.

However, the committees have proven that such measures do not affect their activities due to the horizontal organizational structure they have adopted.