Police opened fire on Friday at anti-government protesters in Sudan who took to the streets after noon prayers.
Worshippers have held regular demonstrations after prayers at the mosque run by the opposition Umma Party in Khartoum’s twin city Omdurman since its veteran leader, former premier Sadiq al-Mahdi, threw his support behind the protest movement.
"Riot police swiftly moved in and fired tear gas at them," a witness told AFP.
"They were also chanting freedom, peace, justice," the rallying cry of the protests that erupted in December against the three-decade rule of President Omar al-Bashir, the witness said.
They also chanted: “Revolution is the people’s choice”, other witnesses said.
Security forces have at times used live ammunition to disperse protesters. Rights groups say at least 45 people have been killed in more than six weeks of protests. The government puts the death toll at 30, including two security personnel.
Demonstrations first broke out in the farming town of Atbara on December 19 after the government tripled the price of bread.
But they swiftly escalated into a broader protest movement that has been seen as the biggest threat to Bashir's rule since he took power in 1989.
Striking a defiant tone on Thursday, Bashir told supporters in the provincial capital of Kassala: “Changing the government and changing the president will not be through WhatsApp nor Facebook, but will be through the ballot box.”
