Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok said Saturday he has replaced Sudan’s police chiefs after more than 40 people were killed in a crackdown on protests following last month’s military coup.
Military chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan seized power and detained Hamdok on October 25, but after international condemnation and mass protests he reinstated the premier in a November 21 deal.
Medics say at least 42 people were killed as security forces sought to crush weeks of anti-coup demonstrations, with protests continuing even after Hamdok’s release from house arrest and return to his post last week.
On Saturday, Hamdok said he had sacked the director-general of the police, Khaled Mahdi Ibrahim al-Emam, and his deputy, Ali Ibrahim.
In their place, he appointed Anan Hamed Mohamed Omar with Abdelrahman Nasreddine Abdallah as his deputy, the premier said in a statement.
Medics have accused security forces of targeting protesters in the “head, neck and torso” with live ammunition, as well as with rubber-coated bullets and tear gas canisters.
