Sudan: 3 More Anti-Bashir Protesters Killed by Police

Sudanese police used tear gas to disperse "illegal" protests against the 30-year rule of President Omar al-Bashir in the city of Omdurman in which three people were killed, state news agency SUNA said Thursday.

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Sudan's second-largest city "witnessed riots and illegal gatherings" Wednesday, SUNA said, amid weeks of demonstrations.

SUNA quoted police as saying that they knew of three deaths and several people being wounded and that these attacks were being investigated.

Police spokesman Hashim Abdelrahim said, "We are investigating."

No other details were immediately available.

Police chased demonstrators onto side roads, from where they regrouped to resume their protests, witnesses said. Hundreds also blocked the main road.

Bashir vowed at a rally of thousands of supporters in the capital Khartoum Wednesday that he would stay in power.

Addressing soldiers at a military base near Atbara, northeast of the capital Khartoum, Bashir scoffed at calls by demonstrators for him to hand over power to the military.

"We have no problem because the army does not move to support traitors, but moves to support the homeland and its achievements," Bashir said

His speech failed to quell the unrest, with security forces fighting running battles Wednesday with protesters in Omdurman on the other side of the Nile from the capital.

Protesters have been staging demonstrations almost daily for weeks, enraged by shortages of bread and foreign currency. The unrest has come as the ruling party has pressed ahead with plans to change the constitution so Bashir can stay in office beyond his present term, which ends in 2020. Sudan's next general elections are expected for 2021 after being postponed twice.

Protests against price rises and other economic hardship began on Dec. 19. Authorities say, 19 people, including two security officials, have been killed, while Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch put the number at double that.