Sudanese security forces shot tear gas on Tuesday as thousands of pro-democracy protesters marked the first anniversary of a coup that derailed a transition to civilian rule and sent hunger and inflation soaring.
Waving Sudanese flags, thousands of demonstrators in Khartoum and its suburbs defied security forces who have carried out deadly crackdowns on past rallies, demanding that "soldiers go back to the barracks."
"No partnership, no negotiation with the putschists," protesters chanted, calling out what has become a pro-democracy rallying cry.
A year ago to the day, army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan seized power and arrested the civilian leaders with whom he had agreed to share power in 2019, when mass protests compelled the army to depose one of its own, long-time autocrat Omar al-Bashir.
Protesters, calling out that the "revolution continues," have demanded the creation of "a civil democratic Sudan."
Eyewitnesses said thousands also took to the streets in the cities of Wad Madani and El Obeid south of the capital, Gedaref and Port Sudan in the east, Atbara in the north and Nyala in the southwestern Darfur region.
In an attempt to stem protests, authorities restricted internet access across the country, online monitor NetBlocks said.
The authorities in Khartoum ordered all public institutions, schools, and businesses shut on Tuesday, as security forces blocked roads and bridges.
For a year, near weekly anti-coup protests have been met with force, most recently on Sunday when a protester was killed by a bullet fired by security forces, according to pro-democracy medics.
At least 118 people have been killed while demanding a return to civilian rule, a condition for Western governments to resume crucial aid they had halted in response to the coup.
Cut off from such aid, Sudan -– already one of the world's poorest countries –- has plunged into a worsening economic crisis.
Between three-digit inflation and chronic food shortages, a third of the country's 45 million inhabitants suffer from hunger, a 50% increase compared to 2021, according to the World Food Programme (WFP).
The cost of food staples has jumped 137% in one year, which the WFP says has forced Sudanese to spend "more than two-thirds of their income on food alone, leaving little money to cover other needs."
Many worry that three years after the 2019 uprising that toppled Bashir, signs point to a reversal of their revolution.
Since the coup, several Bashir-era loyalists have been appointed to official positions, including in the judiciary, which is currently trying the former dictator.
Burhan's pledge of elections next year is seen as far-fetched, no civilian leaders have taken up the mantle of the army chief's promised civilian government, and international mediation efforts are stalled.
