Sudan's pro-democracy protests leave dozens injured

A Sudanese protester has been shot dead during a "savage" crackdown on mass pro-democracy rallies and 125 others were injured. 

Twenty-eight-year-old Majzoub Mohammad Ahmad was shot and killed with "a bullet in the chest" in the protest, the Independent Doctors' Committee said.

The health ministry said late Sunday that "123 people were injured in Khartoum and two in Kassala", a city in the east of Sudan. 

Hundreds of thousands of people demonstrated in Khartoum on Sunday against the October 25 military coup, drawing volleys of tear gas and stun grenades from security forces. 

Many of the injuries were from inhalation of acrid tear gas, including during clashes between the police and protesters near the presidential palace. 

The protests had been called by neighbourhood resistance committees and supported by political parties under slogans rejecting military rule. 

In a statement, the media adviser for military leader General Abdel Fattah al Burhan said the military and security forces would maintain Sudan's security.

"The blatantly contentious and hostile tone (of protests) could impede a smooth democratic transition," he said in a statement late on Sunday night, adding that the military supported the people's ambitions for democracy.

READ MORE: Sudan police fire tear gas as protests mark third uprising anniversary

Tight security in Khartoum

The army on Monday insisted it backed "the democratic choice for the people" and supported "free and fair elections", a spokesman said in a statement.

Security forces on Monday maintained a barricade of bridges across the Nile river linking Khartoum with the cities of Omdurman and North Khartoum.

The Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) have urged people to continue to reject military power, calling for more demonstrations on December 25 and 30.

Nationwide, at least 46 people have been killed and scores wounded in the past two months, according to the Committee.

The generals had initially detained civilian leader Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok for weeks under effective house arrest, but reinstated him on November 21 and promised elections for July 2023.

But the move alienated many of Hamdok's pro-democracy supporters, who dismissed it as providing a cloak of legitimacy for Burhan's coup.

READ MORE: Sudanese security forces deploy in Khartoum ahead of planned protests