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KHARTOUM. – Sudan’s ruling military has sacked six ambassadors and security forces have tightened their crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, even as international pressure against this week’s coup grows.

The decision, announced late on Wednesday on state media, included Sudan’s ambassadors to the United States, the European Union, China, Qatar, France and the head of the country’s mission to the Swiss city of Geneva, apparently over their rejection of the military takeover.

It came as demands are mounting for the army to walk back Monday’s coup that derailed Sudan’s fragile transition towards democracy following the removal of longtime ruler Omar al-Bashir in April 2019 in a popular uprising.

Several Western embassies in Khartoum also said they will keep recognising deposed Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and his cabinet as “the constitutional leaders of the transitional government” of Sudan.

On Wednesday, the African Union announced its decision to suspend Sudan from the bloc’s activities until the restoration of the country’s civilian-led transitional government, while the United States paused US$700m in emergency assistance and the Word Bank froze aid.

The World Bank’s move is a major blow for a country that had just begun re-emerging from three decades of financial isolation. During al-Bashir’s rule, Sudan had been placed on a US list of state sponsors of terrorism which made it ineligible for much-needed debt relief and funding from global institutions and also limited potential foreign investment.

The country was removed from the list in December 2020, and in June the World Bank said it would commit about $2bn in grants to support the government’s economic efforts over the next year.

Meanwhile, protests denouncing the army’s power grab continued in the capital, Khartoum, and elsewhere, with many businesses shut in response to calls for strikes as part of a civil disobedience campaign that has also seen demonstrators blocking roads.

In a statement posted on Facebook overnight, ministries and agencies of Sudan’s most populous state, Khartoum, which includes the capital and twin city Omdurman, said they would not step aside or hand over their duties. They declared a general strike, although they would continue to supply flour, cooking gas, and emergency medical care.

State oil company workers and doctors said they were joining protests against the military coup.

A group of neighbourhood committees in the capital Khartoum has announced plans for further protests leading to what it said would be a “march of millions” tomorrow.

Reports said hundreds of protesters threw rocks at security forces dismantling street barricades in Khartoum’s eastern district of Burri, while in the capital’s north, security personnel fired tear gas and rubber bullets at dozens of demonstrators.

“Neighbourhoods and streets have been blockaded by armoured vehicles and men carrying rifles,” the information ministry, still loyal to Hamdok, said in a statement, also alleging that “women were dragged” to the ground.

Military ruler, Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, has said the internet will be restored “in phases if we feel that the media is telling the truth”, highlighting continued threats to media freedom and accessibility following the 25 October army take over.

Burhan on Tuesday defended the military’s seizure of power, saying he had ousted the government to avoid civil war.

Local media reporting on developments, including protests that broke out following the coup, have also been limited.

State-run Sudan TV has predominantly broadcast messages by Gen Burhan between hours of patriotic and cultural music, while the website of the government news agency, Suna, has not been updated since 24 October.

Online mobilisation has remained crucial to drawing attention to public anger over Sudan’s latest coup.

But it is not clear how some are sharing messages online given the internet outage.

The Facebook page of the Ministry of Information and Culture, which appears to be loyal to ousted Hamdok, has posted several statements expressing defiance towards Gen Burhan and calling for protests.

The Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA) – which was at the forefront of peaceful protests that led to the removal of former President Omar al-Bashir – has also mobilised protests and a civil disobedience campaign on its official Twitter and Facebook pages.

It has also posted dozens of images and videos from the demonstrations in the capital Khartoum. – Agencies