Protesters in Sudan Reject Military Offer to Resume Talks as Death Toll Rises

Sudan’s Transitional Military Council (TMC) reportedly offered to resume talks with protest groups on Wednesday over future governance, but the activists have rejected the offer. It came a day after the TMC announced it was cancelling all agreements made with the opposition and called for elections within nine months following a major raid on Monday against protest sites in Khartoum. “Today, the council invited us to dialogue, and at the same time it is imposing fear on citizens in the streets,” Madani Abbas Madani, a leader of the Declaration of Freedom and Change Forces (DFCF), the alliance of protest groups, told Reuters. The military has denied trying to disperse the sit-in protest site. Medics linked to the opposition say the death toll from recent violence has risen to over 100, although the state news agency SUNA placed an estimate at over 60, citing a Health Ministry official. The violence followed weeks of discussions between the two groups over who should lead Sudan’s transition to democracy and marked the worst outbreak of unrest since the overthrow of president Omar al-Bashir in April after months of protests against his 30-year rule.