Two Sudanese anti-coup protesters shot dead: medics

Two demonstrators were killed Thursday in the Sudanese city of Omdurman by "bullets in the chest," pro-democracy medics said, bringing the death toll from months of protest-related violence to 105.

"Even if we die, the military will not rule us," protesters chanted, urging the reversal of an October military coup by army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.

The deaths came as security forces fired tear gas and stun grenades as thousands of anti-coup protesters took to the streets of the Sudanese capital Khartoum and its suburbs Thursday demanding an end to military rule, AFP correspondents said.

"Down with Burhan's rule," protesters chanted in north Khartoum, urging the reversal of an October military coup by army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan that prompted foreign governments to slash aid, deepening a chronic economic crisis.

"Even if we die, the military will not rule us," they cried.

Pro-democracy medics said one demonstrator was shot dead "by a bullet in the chest" Wednesday night, in small-scale protests in the run-up to the main rallies.

More than 100 people have been killed in protest-related violence, according to UN figures, as the military has cracked down on the anti-coup movement over the past eight months.

An AFP correspondent said internet and phone lines had been disrupted since the early hours of Thursday, a measure the Sudanese authorities often impose to prevent mass gatherings.

Security was tight in Khartoum despite the recent lifting of a state of emergency imposed after the coup.

Troops and police blocked off roads leading to both army headquarters and the presidential palace, witnesses said.

Shops around the capital were largely shuttered.

Activists have been calling for "million-strong" rallies.

UN special representative Volker Perthes said Thursday that "violence needs to end", while the US embassy in Khartoum urged restraint and "the protection of civilians so that no more lives are lost".