Sudanese protesters take to the streets against bloody coup

Sudan's military coup opponents are demonstrating against General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane on Saturday, determined to get the democratic transition back on track despite five days of deadly repression.

The junta's response, with nine protesters already killed and more than 170 injured according to doctors, will be watched around the world, a senior US official has warned. "It will be a real test of the military's intentions," he said.

But the risk of a new bloodbath in a country plagued by conflict does not dampen the determination of the protesters, pro-democracy activist Tahani Abbas told AFP.

"The military will not lead us," she told AFP. And the "demonstration of a million" promised on social networks and by graffiti on the walls of Khartoum -- where the authorities have cut the Internet and telephone network -- is only a "first step".

In a country ruled almost continuously since its independence 65 years ago by the military, the street has decided to say no to General Burhane who dissolved on Monday the institutions of Sudan and arrested most of the civilian leaders.

On Saturday, a first march started from Omdurman, Khartoum's twin city, witnesses said, as security forces cordoned off the capital, blocking bridges linking it to its suburbs and searching passers-by and cars.