Sudan: Doctors announce strike at some hospitals

By Husameldin Badawi Ahmed Almayl and Gulsen Topcu

KHARTOUM, Sudan (AA) – The Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors announced a strike at certain hospitals Thursday after a doctor was killed during protests in the capital.

The committee decided to withdraw all doctors from hospitals affiliated with military institutions and owned by members of the ruling National Congress Party, noting that doctors will serve in hospitals not owned by the regime.

In a statement, the committee said these institutions kill peaceful demonstrators in cold blood and commit the most outrageous rights violations.

Today, doctors are making a sacrifice on behalf of the Sudanese people, it added.

Two people were killed during protests in Khartoum on Thursday -- Dr. Babikir Abdul Hamid and a minor, Mohamed Obied.

The Sudanese government in an earlier statement put the death toll in the month-long protests at 24.

Several parts of Sudan have been rocked by protests since mid-December. Demonstrators decry the government’s apparent failure to rein in inflation and remedy acute shortages of essential commodities.

In power since 1989, President Omar al-Bashir has pledged to carry out urgent economic reforms amid ongoing calls by the opposition to continue protesting.