Sudan doctors claim 100 deaths, military says 'only 46 died'

Sudan security forces patrol in Khartoum on Thursday. Pic/AFP

Khartoum: The doctors in Sudan claimed as many as 108 people died in the military crackdown, however, Sudanese authorities claimed that "no more than 46" peopled died in Khartoum.

Members of the Rapid Support Forces, who rights groups say have their origins in the Janjaweed militias of Darfur, were on the streets of Khartoum on Thursday in pick-up trucks mounted with machine guns and rocket launchers, witnesses said.

It follows a raid by security forces on Monday on a long-running sit-in outside the army headquarters that marked the start of a brutal crackdown on demonstrators demanding civilian rule.

The Central Committee for Sudanese Doctors said Wednesday that 40 bodies had been pulled from the Nile, sending the death toll soaring to at least 108.

The committee, which is close to protesters and relies on doctors on the ground for its information, warned the figure could rise. It has said it holds the "militias" of the military council responsible for the deaths.

Some life had returned to the streets of the capital on Thursday, with limited public transport operating and only a few cars on the roads. A small number of shops and restaurants were open on the second day of the Eid al-Fitr holiday. But there was still widespread disruption around the capital.

Internet blackouts continued to beset the city. The country's ruling generals say it was a "clean up-operation" that went wrong and deny having forcibly broken up the sit-in.
The crackdown on their sit-in was condemned by the UN secretary general, Britain and the United States.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, key backers of the ruling generals, have called for a resumption of "dialogue between the various parties".

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