Calls for protests as student deaths stir anger ahead of Sudan talks

At least four school children and one adult were shot dead when security forces broke up a student protest in the Sudanese city of El-Obeid on Monday, campaigners said.

Gunfire rang out as teenagers rallied against fuel and bread shortages in the capital of North Kordofan state, residents said, at a time of heightened tension between opposition campaigners and Sudan's military rulers.

The Forces of Freedom and Change coalition of opposition groups accused military and paramilitary forces of opening fire on the high school pupils and called for nationwide protests in response.

"We call on our people to take to the streets... to denounce the El-Obeid massacre, to demand the perpetrators be brought to justice," said the Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA), the group that launched initial protests against now ousted president Omar al-Bashir.

There was no immediate statement from Sudan's ruling military council.

The acting governor of North Kordofan, Mohamed Khidr Mohamed Hamid, told Al-Arabiya TV there had been a "slight friction" between protesters and security forces. He said he could not confirm who opened fire and a committee would investigate.

Gunshots to legs, head and stomach

The SPA posted a video showing hundreds of students, many wearing backpacks, protesting in El-Obeid as gunshots echo in the background.

Mustafa Mohammed, a doctor at the main El-Obeid hospital, said it had received five bodies and was treating dozens of wounded students.

"Most of the wounded have been shot in the legs, head and stomach," he said.

Local authorities suspended classes in all schools across North Kordofan and declared a nightly curfew in parts of the province "until further notice".

The protest coalition said the crackdown was carried out by the military and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary unit that grew out of the feared Janjaweed militias unleashed during the Darfur conflict in the 2000s. The RSF is led by Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, who is also the deputy leader of the military council.

The protesters say the RSF was also behind the dispersal of their main sit-in in Khartoum on June 3, which they say killed nearly 130 people. The state prosecutor put the death toll at 87.

Power-sharing deal

Opposition activists, unions and professional groups launched nationwide protests against mounting economic hardships and long-term leader Omar al-Bashir in December last year.

The military ousted Bashir in April as the protests and shortages persisted. But activists kept up their demonstrations, pressing for the military to speed up the move to civilian rule and calling for justice for people killed during a raid on a sit-in protest in Khartoum in June.

The Forces of Freedom and Change coalition called for Monday's attackers in El-Obeid to be held accountable and for the ruling military council to immediately agree the details of a new transitional authority.

Sediq Yousef, a negotiator for the protest coalition, said there should be no further talks with the military until it halts its "violations".

"We cannot sit at a negotiating table with those who allow the killing of revolutionaries," he said.

The two sides plan to meet Tuesday to discuss a power-sharing deal. They agreed on the outline of an agreement earlier this month but remain divided on a number of key issues, including whether military commanders should be immune from prosecution for violence against protesters.

(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS, AP)