Three killed as defiant Sudanese march against coup

Sudanese security forces on Saturday killed three protesters during mass anti-coup rallies, medics said, despite warnings from global powers who had urged the military to exercise restraint.

"Two demonstrators were killed in the city of Omdurman by the putschist military council," the independent Central Committee of Sudan's Doctors said in a tweet, adding that one was shot in the head and the other in the stomach.

It later said security forces had shot dead a third protester, also in Omdurman, Khartoum's sister city, bringing the overall death toll since the outbreak of anti-coup protests Monday to 12.

The medics said "live rounds" were fired at protesters in Omdurman and parts of Khartoum.

More than 100 people were also wounded Saturday, some suffering breathing difficulties due to tear gas, the committee added.

Sudan's interior ministry denied that live rounds were fired at protesters on Saturday, saying the reported killings were "inaccurate".

"Groups of protesters... attacked the police, as well as vital sites, which prompted the police to fire tear gas," a statement said.

Tens of thousands turned out across the country for Saturday's demonstrations, which came almost a week after Monday's power grab, when the military dissolved the government, declared a state of emergency and detained Sudan's civilian leadership.