Sudanese security forces fired tear gas and shot dead three protesters on Thursday as crowds thronged the capital Khartoum and other cities in more anti-military rallies, according to medics and witnesses.

       Crackdowns on demonstrations since an October coup have left at least 60 people dead and many more injured, according to a group of medics aligned with the protest movement.

       As in previous demonstrations, mobile phone and internet services were largely cut from late morning, Reuters journalists and internet blockage observatory Netblocks said.

       Most bridges between Khartoum and its sister cities of Bahri and Omdurman were also closed.

       Protesters attempted once again to reach Khartoum’s presidential palace to keep up pressure on the military, whose coup halted a power-sharing arrangement negotiated after the 2019 overthrow of Omar al-Bashir.

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       “We will occupy the streets once more, heading for the tyrant’s palace, rejecting military rule, and adhering to peacefulness, our strongest weapon,” said a statement from resistance committees in advance.

       The rallies were the first of several rounds of protests planned for this month.

       The latest victims were all protesters and died from bullets shot by security personnel to the head, thigh and chest during rallies in the cities of Bahri and Omdurman, the Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors said.

       There was no immediate comment from authorities, who justify the coup as a “correction” needed to stabilise the transition. They have said peaceful protests are permitted and those responsible for causing casualties will be held to account.

       The protests come four days after Abdalla Hamdok resigned as prime minister, throwing Sudan’s future deeper into uncertainty.

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       Mr Hamdok became prime minister in 2019 and oversaw major economic reforms before being deposed in the coup then returning in a failed bid to salvage the power-sharing arrangement.

       Reuters