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30 die as Sudan army storms protest camp

Khartoum - Heavily armed members of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces were deployed in large numbers.

Sudan's military rulers forcefully broke up a weeks-long sit-in outside Khartoum's army headquarters on Monday leaving at least 30 dead and dozens wounded, protesters said, as gunfire rang out and black smoke shrouded the city.

Heavily armed members of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces were deployed in large numbers along the capital's main roads.

The main protest group accused the ruling military council of breaking up the camp, calling the action "a massacre".

An alliance of opposition groups said it was halting all contact with the military council. The two sides had been negotiating for weeks over who should govern in a transitional period after Bashir's ouster, though the talks had stalled.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the use of excessive force and called for an independent investigation.

"According to initial estimates, we lost 30 martyrs to the bullets" of the military council, the Alliance of Freedom and Change umbrella protest group said.- AFP