KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) — Shops were closed and streets were empty across Sudan yesterday, the first day of a general strike called for the start of the workweek by protest leaders demanding the resignation of the ruling military council.

The Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA) urged people to stay home to protest the deadly crackdown last week when security forces violently dispersed the group’s main sit in outside the military headquarters in the capital, Khartoum.

The protesters say more than 100 people have been killed since the crackdown began June 3, including at least four slain by security forces yesterday.

The protesters hope that their strike and campaign of civil disobedience will force the military to hand over power to civilians. The military leaders ousted long-time President Omar al-Bashir in April after four months of mass rallies. The generals have refused demonstrators’ demands for an immediate move to civilian rule, instead pushing for a transitional power-sharing arrangement.

The SPA posted photos of what it said was an empty Khartoum International Airport, adding that airport workers and pilots are taking part in the civil disobedience.

Other videos online showed offices and businesses closed and light traffic, in both Khartoum and the Red Sea city of Port Sudan.

SPA activist Dura Gambo said at midday that participation in the general strike “exceeded our expectations”.

“All private and some government banks joined the strike. Cities across the country are almost empty,” she said.

The head of the leading opposition Umma party, Sadek al-Mahdi, warned of escalation from both the protest leaders and the military council.

“The mutual escalation damages the county. We have been working to adjust the strike and disobedience to contain the escalation,” he said in televised comments.

An Associated Press journalist saw a heavy deployment of troops from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in several parts of Khartoum and its sister city of Omdurman. There are long lines for fuel in several areas in the capital.

The Internet remains cut off in Khartoum, and other types of communications also are restricted, with reports of mobile network services heavily disrupted.

Security forces removed barricades from main roads and opened the sit in area outside the military’s headquarters for the first time in a week. The SPA urged protesters to avoid clashes with the RSF.

The RSF grew out of the notorious Janjaweed militias used by al-Bashir in the Darfur conflict in the early 2000s. Protesters accuse it of leading the nationwide crackdown, and the SPA has called for the force to be disbanded.

A spokesman for the military council did not immediately respond to calls seeking comment.

At the Vatican, Pope Francis told the faithful in St Peter’s Square that the news from Sudan is causing “pain and worry”. He prayed for the end of violence and that the common good would be sought through dialogue.