Sudan police fire tear gas as civil disobedience campaign begins

Khartoum: Sudanese police fired tear gas Sunday at protesters taking part in the first day of a civil disobedience campaign, called in the wake of a deadly crackdown on demonstrators.

Protesters gathered tyres, tree trunks and rocks to build new roadblocks in Khartoum's northern Bahari district, a witness told AFP, but riot police swiftly moved in and fired tear gas at them.

"Almost all internal roads of Bahari have roadblocks. Protesters are even stopping residents from going to work," said the witness.

The latest bid by demonstrators to close off streets in the capital comes nearly a week after a deadly raid on a sit-in outside army headquarters which left dozens dead.

The bloody crackdown prompted the Sudanese Professionals Association, which first launched protests against longtime ruler Omar al-Bashir in December, to announce a nationwide civil disobedience campaign starting Sunday.

The SPA said the movement will end only after the military rulers, who took over after Bashir's ouster two months ago, transfer power to a civilian government.

Khartoum residents have mostly remained indoors over the past few days and the downtown business district was largely shut on Sunday.

Several vehicles of the feared Rapid Support Forces (RSF), blamed by witnesses for Monday's killings, were seen moving across some parts of the capital loaded with machine guns.

Buses were not running in several districts, but private vehicles were ferrying passengers in some areas.