During Saturday rallies in Sudan against a military coup, security officers shot and killed three civilians.
According to the Sudan Doctors Committee, two protestors were shot and killed, but a third person was murdered when security forces opened fire on crowds in Omdurman, Khartoum's sister city.
Since the military seized power and dismissed the prime minister on Monday, 12 people have been killed in protests.
Hundreds of thousands of people attended Saturday's demonstrations in Khartoum, Sudan's capital, and other major towns around the country.
Protests began on Monday when General Abdel-Fattah Burhan proclaimed a state of emergency and announced the resignation of a historic transitional government that had been in place since 2019. However, the "March of Millions" on Saturday is likely to be the largest coordinated demonstration ever.
Crowds holding Sudanese flags and placards protesting the military administration can be seen in images and video footage from Khartoum and other locations across the country. Chants and songs used in 2019 when protestors demanded the removal of tyrant Omar al-Bashir have been renewed in this week's demonstrations.
"I see thousands of young people, women, old men, children, everyone everywhere," Walaa Salah, a Khartoum activist, told VOA's English to Africa program.
"The entire city of Khartoum is outside demonstrating, demanding for the end of military control, the end of the coup, and the end of this partnership," she stated. "People are chanting anti-military slogans."
Witnesses said Khartoum was heavily guarded by the military, particularly the Rapid Special Forces, known for fatally shooting dozens of protestors in 2019.
According to the Sudan Doctors' Committee, security forces murdered at least nine individuals and injured at least 170 others during protests earlier this week. Experts and activists have expressed concern that the protests on Saturday could turn violent.
Even though mobile internet and specific WIFI were prohibited across the country, organizers could still plan demonstrations. According to Netblocks, since Tuesday's military takeover, mobile internet has been shut throughout Sudan except for one four-hour window. This website tracks internet outages around the world.
"We are unable to communicate by phone or text." "On the other side of the city, we have no idea what's going on," Salah remarked.
In a statement released Friday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres' special representative Volker Perthes said he "remains in constant contact with all sides to facilitate a political solution in line with the Constitutional Document." UNITAMS (the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan) is collaborating with present mediation efforts to foster an inclusive conversation, which remains the only way to a peaceful resolution to the current situation."
The US had encouraged the coup's military leaders to avoid using "any and all violence" against nonviolent protestors.
A senior US State Department official briefing reporters on the condition of anonymity appealed to Sudan's military leaders.
Saturday will be "a true indication of military intentions," according to the Pentagon, "the official stated.
After weeks of rising tensions between military and civilian authorities over Sudan's democratic transition, the military took control. The coup threatens to hinder the process, which has been moving slowly since the army deposed longstanding ruler Omar al-Bashir in 2019, stopping a popular rebellion.
Protests have continued even after the historic power-sharing agreement in August 2019, in which now-deposed Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok was appointed the country's leader. Demonstrators opposed any military authority in the transitional administration, using "Medaniya," or civilian, to push for a civilian government.
Burhan stated on Tuesday that the army's ouster of the country's interim administration was required to avoid civil conflict.
