Seven anti-coup protesters killed in Sudan mass rallies

At least seven Sudanese demonstrators were killed Thursday as security forces sought to quash mass rallies of protesters demanding an end to military rule, pro-democracy medics said.

In one of the most violent days this year in an ongoing crackdown on the anti-coup movement, correspondents reported security forces firing tear gas and stun grenades to disperse tens of thousands of protesters.

"Even if we die, the military will not rule us," protesters chanted, urging the reversal of an October military coup by army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan that prompted foreign governments to slash aid, deepening a chronic economic crisis.

At least five of the seven killed were shot -- two in the chest, two in the head, and another in the back -- the Central Committee of Sudan Doctors said, raising the overall death toll to 110 from protest-related violence since October.

"Down with Burhan's rule," crowds chanted, with protests and violence flaring in both the capital Khartoum and its suburbs, including the twin city of Omdurman, on the other side of the Nile river.

Security forces fired powerful water cannons, as protesters set fire to burning tyres.

Medics also reported "several attempts to storm hospitals in Khartoum," with security forces firing tear gas into one hospital, where some of those injured during the protests had been taken.

Protests in Khartoum were larger than normal, and beyond the capital, demonstrations also took place in Wad Madani in the south