Sudan’s Doctors Syndicate says the government crackdown on protests has left at least 57 dead, including three who died of torture, since they began in mid-December.

In a statement issued on Friday, the union said that the death toll is expected to climb because of the serious condition of some wounded protesters.

It also noted the excessive use of tear gas in the crackdown, including in residential areas, and inside homes and hospitals.

Additionally, it expressed its alarm at security forces using the “inconceivably barbaric tactic” of running over protesters while breaking up demonstrations, according to the statement.

A total of 28 doctors have been detained, and one doctor was shot dead for treating wounded protesters, it added.

The statement came one day after a chief investigator concluded that an iconic protester —Ahmed al-Khair— was beaten to death while in custody.

Sudan's President Omar Al-Bashir has held "infiltrators" accountable for the recent deaths during the anti-government protests. 

In January, Al-Bashir said that his forces arrested individuals who admitted that they "were instructed to infiltrate the protests and kill the protesters in order to fuel the conflict, instigate sedition, and destroy the country."