Reports from Sudan are suggesting that a coup is unfolding in the capital Khartoum. According to the country's information ministry, Sudanese ministers and civilian members of the ruling sovereign council have been arrested by the military.
According to initial information, at least five senior government officials were detained. Sudan's Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok is reportedly put under house arrest after the military besieged his house. A prominent pro-democracy group named 'Sudanese Professionals Association' has called on Sudanese to take to the streets to counter any military coup. The group also reported internet and phone signal outages in the country.
According to the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya TV channel, the Khartoum airport was shut and international flights were suspended on October 25.
Social Media Images Show Angry Crowds Burning Tyres
Pro-democracy groups are coming forward and urging street protests. Dozens of demonstrators set car tyres on fire as they gathered on the streets of the capital to protest against the detentions, an AFP correspondent said.
The army and paramilitary have been deployed across the Khartoum city, restricting the movement of civilians, reported Reuters news agency. There was no immediate comment from the military.
"The US is deeply alarmed at reports of a military take-over of the transitional government," said U.S. special envoy for the Horn of Africa, Jeffrey Feltman.
Sudan Has Been on Edge since a Failed Coup Plot Last Month
There have been rising tensions between civilian and military leaders in Sudan after a failed coup attempt in September with protests raging in the county ever since. The deteriorating ties between the military and the civilians in the ruling dispensation has also threatened Sudan's very fragile transition to democracy since the military's removal of autocrat Omar al-Bashir in April 2019. Bashir was toppled and jailed after months of street protests.
Sudan has been ruled by a joint civilian and military government after the ouster of Bashir. The country's powerful generals and also key civil society factions had signed a power-sharing deal in 2019 to spearhead the post- Bashir transition and also to bring about stability in the country. The recent escalation of the crisis comes just weeks ahead of the scheduled transfer of leadership from the military to the civilians.
