Sudanese forces surround Khartoum's sit-in area

KHARTOUM, Sudan (AA) - Forces belong to the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support have surrounded the Nile Street in the capital Khartoum for reportedly implementing a "security plan" around the weeks-long sit-in.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, eyewitnesses said the security forces surrounded the street from the eastern and western directions.

On Thursday, a civilian was shot dead in the same area, "as a result of fire opened by the regular forces," according to the Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA).

On the same day, the country’s Transitional Military Council (TMC) announced that the sit-in, which has been staged in front of the army headquarters in Khartoum, became a "security threat and a threat to the cohesion of the country."

The deadly incident occurred on the second day of a nationwide general strike organized by opposition groups with a view to pressuring Sudan’s TMC to relinquish power to a civilian authority.

Early in April, Sudan’s military establishment deposed President Omar al-Bashir following months of popular protests against his 30-year rule.

The TMC is now overseeing a two-year “transitional period” during which it has pledged to hold free presidential elections.

Demonstrators, however, have remained on the streets to demand that the military council hand over power -- at the earliest possible date -- to a civilian authority.

* Writing by Ali Abo Rezeg