In the aftermath of a bloody military crackdown that left at least 113 people dead in Khartoum, Sudan's pro-military movement has called for a nationwide 'civil disobedience' movement to demand civilian rule in the country.
The Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA), an umbrella group for multiple trade unions in the country, said that the movement would end only when the ruling generals "transfer power to civil transitional authority in accordance with the Declaration of Freedom and Change (DFC)," reports CNN.
In its statement released on Saturday, the SPA called upon "the workers in all institutions and facilities, in the public and private sectors, to engage and strictly adhere to the tools of civil disobedience and the general political strike."
The call to civil disobedience comes as several opposition leaders were arrested by security forces following an overnight raid in the capital on Saturday.
"We have received several reports about the continued campaign of the Military Coup Council in arresting political activists and protesters," the statement read.
"In continuation of the methods of intimidation, terrorism, and spreading disinformation, it has come to our knowledge that filthy schemes are being planned by the Military Coup Council to stage violent incidents and attacks on citizens' properties, in order to attribute it to the revolutionaries and to the DFC forces," it added.
Violence erupted in Khartoum on Monday after the military stormed the main camp of the protesters here in a bid to break up the agitation. The demonstrators had demanded that the Transitional Military Council (TMC), which toppled Sudanese leader Omar al-Bashir in a coup this April, hand over the government charge to civilians.
The deputy chairman of the ruling TMC, Lieutenant General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, has denied the military's involvement in the violence altogether.
Quoting eyewitnesses, CNN had earlier reported that the police and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces fired shots at the protesters, while many law enforcement personnel beat the demonstrators who took to the streets.
While protesters have been asking the TMC to step down to make way for a government led by civilian leaders, the military reached a settlement with the opposition for a three-year transition to democracy.
( With inputs from ANI )