Family of slain Sudan protester vows to resist coup

A Sudanese family that lost a brother and son in recent protests against the coup says they will continue to demonstrate against the country's military leaders

KHARTOUM, Sudan -- Mohammed Abdel Sallam was shot in the chest not far from his home in Sudan's capital, where his mother was waiting for him. He had gone out to protest after hearing that there had been a military coup, the country's civilian leaders had been arrested and the government dissolved.

His brother carried him to a nearby hospital where he died from his injuries several days later, surrounded by family. He was 20 years old, and just one of more than a dozen protesters who have been killed since last week. More than 200 also have been injured.

On Oct. 25, the commander of Sudan's Armed Forces Abdel Fattah Burhan initiated the coup, also seizing power of state news and cutting communications across the country. The grab has been widely condemned by the United States and the West, and came more than two years after a popular uprising ended years of isolation and repression under an autocrat leader.

The takeover that day was the reverse of Abdel Sallam’s aspirations for Sudan. Mido, as he was known to family and friends, had also taken part in the 2019 mass protest movement that led to the ouster of longtime ruler Omar al-Bashir. He spent months at a sit-in calling for democracy. His mother said he had felt compelled to take to the streets in dissent again.