FOLLOWING the recent fourth anniversary of the popular uprising in Omdurman in December 2018, which was the spark to a series of events that eventually culminated in the ousting of dictator Omar al-Bashir from power the following spring, Sudan has once more become the scene of major anti-government protests and unrest.

Huge demonstrations have been taking place around the country against the ruling military junta and leaders of the October 2021 coup that saw the suspension of the transition to democracy and threatened a return to outright despotism in Sudan.

These protests have been met with a fierce and violent backlash from the coup authorities — essentially the remnants of the Bashir regime and those seeking to hold on to its last vestiges — via their security forces and assorted militias.