At least seven protesters were shot dead by Sudanese security forces on Monday during anti-coup rallies in the capital Khartoum, according to the civilian-allied Sudanese Central Doctors Committee (SCDC).

More than 100 people were injured amid the gunfire, SCDC added, which broke out as thousands of protesters marched toward the presidential palace in opposition to last October's military coup.

Sudan's ruling Sovereign Council- headed by Gen. Abdel Fatah al-Burhan- said on Monday it would establish an anti-terrorism force to counter "multiple potential threats," according to the statement on Facebook.

Several mass demonstrations have been against military rule since the October 25 coup, and security forces have killed at least 71 people, the SCDC said on Monday.

The forces of freedom and change, an alliance of civilian political parties and movements, called for two days of civil disobedience and a general strike in response to Monday's violence. "Resistance committees have called on people to barricade neighborhoods and main streets to stop movement." It wrote on Facebook.

Sudan had been ruled by an uneasy alliance between the military and civilian groups since 2019. But in October, the military effectively took control, dissolving the power-sharing Sovereign Council and transitional government and temporarily detaining Abdalla Hamdok, the prime minister.

Al-Burhan reinstated Hamdok in November as part of the military and civilian leadership deal, but Hamdok resigned earlier this January.

Hamdok's resignation was triggered after the military went back on a "non-interference" agreement struck in November and relaunched the feared national intelligence agency, according to Sudanese political sources speaking to CNN earlier this month.

This week, the US Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa David Satterfield and Assistant Secretary Molly Phee visit Khartoum. They are currently in Saudi Arabia, where they intend to "marshal international support for the UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission to Sudan (UNITAMS) in its efforts to facilitate a renewed civilian-led transition to democracy," the State Department wrote in a statement.

Last week, the United Nations began consultations among Sudanese parties and the military to find an end to the crisis.