Sudanese police fired tear gas at hundreds of protesters planning to march on parliament Sunday, as President Omar al-Bashir insisted demonstrators who died in anti-government rallies were not killed by security forces.

Deadly protests which erupted on December 19 after a government decision to raise the price of bread have turned into nationwide rallies against Bashir’s three decades of iron-fisted rule.

On Sunday, hundreds of protesters attempted to march on parliament in Omdurman, the twin city of Khartoum, but they were quickly confronted by riot police who fired tear gas, witnesses said.

Protesters then staged simultaneous rallies in different neighbourhoods of Omdurman in an attempt to gather again for the march, a witness said, but they were unable to.