(KHARTOUM, Sudan) — At least 40 bodies were pulled from the Nile River in the Sudanese capital Khartoum, organizers of pro-democracy protests said Wednesday, bringing the death toll since the violent dispersal of a sit-in outside the military’s headquarters to 100.
The Sudan Doctors’ Committee said Wednesday the bodies were pulled out a day earlier, and that they were taken by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces to an unknown location. The sit-in was broken up by the military on Monday.
One activist, Amal al-Zein, said the number could be even higher. She said dozens of bodies had been pulled from the Nile in different places near the sit-in area and were taken to a hospital morgue.
“Some bodies have wounds from bullets, others seemed to have beaten and thrown in the Nile,” she said.
The announcement came as Sudanese protest leaders dismissed a call for talks with the ruling generals, saying the military cannot be serious about negotiations while troops keep shooting and killing ..