Powerful Photo Of Woman Leading Chants Is Being Hailed As One Of The Most Iconic Moments From The Sudan Protests

Protests have swept through Sudan in recent months, with many anti-government protesters demanding the resignation of President Omar al-Bashir, whose loyalist security forces have killed numerous people in the capital, Khartoum.

One image has taken captivated the internet in particular: It's a picture of a young woman in a white robe standing on top of a car. She raises her arms.

The woman, says Hala Al-Karib, a Sudanese women's rights activist with the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa, sums up "this moment we have been waiting for for the past 30 years."

The photo of the woman, which several news outlets have identified as Alaa Salah, a 22-year-old engineering and architecture student, has already struck a powerful chord as the world watches the protests rage on.

The woman led protesters in a chant of "Thowra!" –– Arabic for "revolution."

Hind Makki, an interfaith educator who holds a degree in International Relations who is the founder and curator of "Side Entrance," a crowd-sourced website "that documents women's prayer experiences in mosques around the world," explained what makes the image so powerful.

President Omar Hassan al-Bashir has held power since 1989. The International Criminal Court has had a warrant out for his arrest for many years for directing mass killings, rapes, and pillages in Darfur.

He's been accused of crimes against humanity, genocide, and other war crimes.