Sudan protesters say 40 killed since army attack on sit-in

Sudanese protest organisers say the killing of two more people has increased the death toll to 40 since the army's brutal dispersal of a sit-in in the capital Khartoum.

Security forces on Monday broke up the protest camp outside military headquarters.

The Sudan Doctors' Committee said on Tuesday the exact number of those been killed across Sudan since Monday's attack is still unknown. It says there were wounded people inside the tents that were burnt by security forces.

The group has quoted an unnamed source as saying that he saw at least seven bodies at the sit-in area when he was held on Monday.

The doctors' committee is the medical arm of the Sudanese Professionals Association, which has been spearheading protests against army rule.

Monday's bloody dispersal of the sit-in poses a new challenge to the protest movement.

Organisers are now calling for toppling the ruling generals, after previously negotiating with them to hand over authority to civilians.

Negotiations came to a standstill two weeks ago as the military refused to budge over whether a civilian would lead a proposed joint civilian-military transitional body.

The joint council, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said on Tuesday, will now be scrapped and no further negotiations will follow.

Instead, general elections will be held within the next nine months despite the military having previously agreed to a transitional period of three years before elections are held.

Sudanese opposition leaders slammed the proposal and accused the ruling military council of a "coup".