Photo taken on Nov. 1, 2021 shows road blocked with makeshift brick barricades by demonstrators in Khartoum, Sudan. On Oct. 25, the Sudanese Army took measures ending the partnership between the military and civilian coalition ruling during the transitional period in Sudan. Meanwhile, General Commander of the Sudanese Armed Forces Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan declared a state of emergency across the country and dissolved the sovereign council and government.(Photo: Xinhua)

Security forces shot dead at least 15 people and wounded dozens as thousands of Sudanese took to the streets on Wednesday on the deadliest day in a month of demonstrations against military rule, medics said.

The protesters, marching against an October 25 coup across the Sudanese capital Khartoum and in the cities of Bahri and Omdurman, demanded a full handover to civilian authorities and for the leaders of the October 25 coup to be put on trial.

Security forces fired live rounds and tear gas to prevent gatherings in all three cities, and mobile phone communications were cut, witnesses said. State television said there were injuries among protesters and police.

"The coup forces used live bullets heavily in different areas of the capital and there are tens of gunshot injuries, some of them in serious condition," said the Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors, a group aligned with the protest movement. Deaths were concentrated in Bahri, they said.

In response, protesters built extensive barricades, emptying the streets of traffic, a Reuters witness said.

"People are just terrified right now," said an Omdurman protester.

Earlier, on a main road in Khartoum, protesters burned tires and chanted: "The people are stronger, and retreat is impossible."

Others carried pictures of people killed in previous protests and of Abdalla Hamdok, the civilian prime minister who was put under house arrest during the coup, with the slogan: "Legitimacy comes from the street, not from the cannons."

Images of protests in towns including Port Sudan, Kassala, Dongola, Wad Madani and Geneina were posted on social media.

Security forces were heavily deployed on main roads and intersections, and bridges across the River Nile were closed, witnesses said.

There was no immediate comment from the security forces and a police representative could not be reached for comment. Military leader General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan has said peaceful protests are allowed and the military does not kill protesters.

Reuters