Sudan PM, members of ruling council and transitional govt detained by armed forces

According to the information ministry of Sudan, after weeks of tension between the military and the leaders, armed forces detained Abdalla Hamdok, the Prime Minister, since he refused to support the “coup” on Monday. The forces also detained civilian members in the ruling council and Hamdok’s transitional government and took all of them to an “unidentified location”, reported AFP.

Internet services were shut and roads connecting with the capital Khartoum were blocked, while protestors took to the streets, setting car tyres on fire.

“The US is deeply alarmed at reports of a military takeover of the transitional government,” said US Special Envoy Jeffrey Feltman. He added, “This would contravene the Constitutional Declaration (which outlines the transition) and the democratic aspirations of the Sudanese people. Any changes to the transitional government by force puts at risk US assistance.”

After the coup, the state television began broadcasting patriotic songs and the Sudanese Professionals Association urged people to “fiercely resist” it. The doctor’s union has declared “civil disobedience” and has withdrawn from all hospitals. People are chanting, “Civilian rule is the people's choice,” and “No to military rule”.

Demonstrator Haitham Mohamed said, “We will not accept military rule and we are ready to give our lives for the democratic transition in Sudan”. “We will not leave the streets until the civilian government is back and the transition is back,” said Sawsan Bashir, another protester.

The detentions came two days after a Sudanese faction warned of this, and called for a transfer of power. Sudan has been under a civilian-military administration since 2019 after Bashir was ousted. The Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC), which led the anti-Bashir protests in 2019, has now splintered into two factions. In a press conference on Saturday, mainstream FFC leader Yasser Arman said, “The crisis at hand is engineered -- and is in the shape of a creeping coup. We renew our confidence in the government, Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, and reforming transitional institutions -- but without dictations or imposition.”

On Saturday, Hamdok had denied rumours of a cabinet reshuffle and also met Feltman, the chairman of Sudan's ruling body General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and paramilitary commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.

There was a failed coup attempt on September 21 this year. Last week, tens of thousands of Sudanese protested for the full transfer of power to civilians.