54 killed in Sudan protests  

The death toll in protests calling for the return of civilian rule in Sudan has climbed to 54, a doctors group said Saturday. 

Protests are taking place across North Africa, demanding the restoration of civilian rule.

The North African country has been in turmoil since October 25, when the Sudanese military dismissed Hamdok's transitional government and declared a state of emergency. 

On December 30, protests took place in several areas in the capital Khartoum, Kasala, and Port Sudan in the country's east, as well as the northern city of Atbara.

Sudanese called for democratic civilian rule and decried the political deal between the military and Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok.

As per reports, Hamdok was reinstated on November 21 under an agreement with Army Chief Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, in a move rejected by Sudanese political and civil forces as an "attempt to legitimize the coup".

Before military’s takeover, Sudan was administered by a sovereign council of military and civilian officials overseeing the transition period until elections in 2023 as part of a precarious power-sharing pact between the military and the Forces of Freedom and Change coalition.