Protesters shot at by Sudan security forces to clear protest camp

Heavy gunfire has been heard in Sudan's capital, Khartoum, as security forces forcefully moved in to clear a protest camp that has been the central point in the demonstrators' months-long struggle for civilian rule.

The Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors, a medical group linked to protesters, said at least nine people were killed and several wounded in the Monday morning raid, which was still in progress. The committee also said security forces used live ammunition inside East Nile Hospital in Khartoum where some of the wounded were being treated.

Witnesses said a sit-in next to the Defence Ministry, the focal point of anti-government protests that started in December, had been cleared, but protesters poured onto the streets elsewhere in Khartoum and beyond in response to the crackdown.

The main protest group accused the ruling military council of breaking up the camp, calling the action “a massacre”. The military council denied trying to break up the camp and said security forces had targeted “unruly” groups nearby.

In a post on Twitter, the Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA) said the country's ruling Transitional Military Council (TMC) had assigned a large number of troops to disperse the protest camp.

In a statement, the SPA said the TMC would be held accountable for any bloodshed and called for a campaign of civil disobedience.

"It is imperative to go out to the streets to protect the revolution and the remaining dignity. Our weapons are peace courage," it said in a statement.

"We call on the revolutionaries in all neighbourhoods, villages, towns and cities of Sudan to go out to the streets and start marching, closing all streets and bridges and ports. We call for a comprehensive civil disobedience to bring down the deadly military junta and complete our revolution."

The sit-in has become the focal point of Sudan's protest movement, which saw longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir overthrown in April and has since been calling for the generals who replaced him to hand over power to a civilian-led administration.

The operation came days after Sudan's military rulers called the sit-in outside the defence ministry "a danger" to the country's national security and warned that action would be taken against what they called "unruly elements".