Sudan protesters call for night-time rallies, more demos

Deadly anti-government protests have rocked the east African country for more than a month.

Rallies triggered by a government decision to triple the price of bread swiftly mushroomed into nationwide calls for an end to Bashir's three decades in power.

Officials say 30 people have died as protests have turned into violent clashes, while rights groups say more than 40 people have been killed including medics and children.

"We are calling on our people across the country to hold demonstrations on Saturday night near their residential areas," the Sudanese Professionals Association, which is leading the protest campaign, said in a statement.

It said protesters were also called to hold sit-ins in every district square on Sunday, followed by daily demonstrations until Wednesday.

Although the umbrella group of doctors, engineers and teachers remains unknown to many, its calls have brought thousands of protesters onto the streets, including in the capital Khartoum and its twin city of Omdurman.

Authorities led by the country's National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) have cracked down on protesters, opposition leaders, activists and journalists in a bid to prevent the spread of demonstrations.

Bashir, who came to power in an Islamist-backed coup in 1989, has remained steadfast in rejecting calls to resign.

He has blamed the deadly violence on "infiltrators" among the protesters.

While the spark for the first protests on December 19 was the rise of bread prices, anger has been mounting for years over worsening economic hardships and deteriorating living conditions.

That ire has now spilt onto the streets as protesters chant their main slogan calling for "freedom, peace, justice".

Bashir has blamed the economic woes on the United States.

Washington lifted its trade embargo on Sudan in October 2017 after two decades of bruising economic punishment, but that failed to revive the country's financial situation.