Sudanese police fired live ammunition at mourners outside the home of a protester who died early on Friday from a gunshot wound sustained the night before.

About 2,000 mourners gathered in the Burri neighbourhood where the man, Moawia Bashir Khalil, 60, was shot on Thursday. According to local reports, Khalil was killed inside his home for helping unarmed protesters hide from security forces.

The procession turned into a spontaneous anti-government demonstration, the latest in a series of protests against the leadership of President Omar al-Bashir. The capital, Khartoum, has witnessed weeks of pitched battles between police and demonstrators over the state of the economy and other issues.

“We are not scared, we will not stop” the protesters shouted, as they took to the streets of Khartoum’s eastern district of Burri, the hub of an anti-government rally late on Thursday.

Video footage showed men and women, many wearing masks, shouting slogans against the government as a thick plume of smoke – resulting from burning tyres and rubbish – billowed behind them.

(Source: Aljazeera)