Pope Francis appeals for peace in Sudan following military crackdown

Vatican City: In the wake of the recent military crackdown in Sudan that left at least 113 pro-democracy protestors dead, Pope Francis on Sunday appealed for peace and resumption of dialogue between the opposing factions in the African country.

"The news coming from Sudan these days evoke pain and concern. Let's pray for this people, so that the violence stops and the dialogue helps find the common well-being," the Sputnik quoted the Pope as saying.

Violence erupted in Sudan's capital city of Khartoum on Monday after the military stormed the main camp of the protesters here in a bid to break up the agitation. The demonstrators had demanded that the Transitional Military Council (TMC), which toppled Sudanese leader Omar al-Bashir in a coup this April, hand over the government charge to civilians.

In the aftermath of the incident, Sudan's pro-military movement has called for a nationwide 'civil disobedience' movement to demand civilian rule in the country. The call to the movement comes as several opposition leaders were arrested by security forces following an overnight raid in the capital on Saturday.

The Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA), an umbrella group for multiple trade unions in the country, said that the movement would end only when the ruling generals "transfer power to civil transitional authority in accordance with the Declaration of Freedom and Change (DFC)," reports CNN.

In its statement released on Saturday, the SPA called upon "the workers in all institutions and facilities, in the public and private sectors, to engage and strictly adhere to the tools of civil disobedience and the general political strike."