Chaos in the third largest country in Africa!
After weeks of tensions between the military and the civil transitional government, gunmen arrested several leading members of the government in Sudan – including Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok (65)!
This was reported by the broadcaster Al-Hadath and the news portal Sudan Tribune. The Ministry of Information announced on Monday that Hamdok had previously refused to support the soldiers’ “coup”.
“After refusing to support the coup, Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok was arrested by an army unit and taken to an undisclosed location,” the ministry said. The arrests took place in the homes of government officials.
Photo: ASHRAF SHAZLY/AFP
“data-zoom-src =” https://bilder.bild.de/fotos/festnahm-sudans-ministerprsident-abdalla-hamdok-65-885a264c69ec48298e929a703472f07e-78052268/Bild/2.bild.jpg “/> Arrested: Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, 65Photo: ASHRAF SHAZLY/AFP
According to the British organization Netblocks, which documents Internet blocks worldwide, the Internet, the mobile network and parts of the fixed network have been disrupted since the early hours of the morning.
State television began broadcasting patriotic songs. The trade union confederation Association of Professionals called on Twitter in the face of a “coup” to offer “strong resistance”.
The Sudanese organization Sudanese Professionals Association called on Facebook “in the face of a coup” for “fierce resistance”. According to an eyewitness, it was quiet that morning in the Riyadh residential area. However, the sky has turned black, said the eyewitness – according to reports, protesters are said to be burning tires.
In the capital Khartoum (around 640,000 inhabitants) demonstrators gathered and blocked roads, according to the AFP news agency.
According to government information, a coup attempt had already taken place on September 21. Since then, the political situation in Sudan has worsened. There have been protests for weeks. Protesters called for the military to withdraw from the government and for democratic reforms.
Inflation rises to 212 percent
Sudan was ruled by Omar al-Bashir (77) for almost 30 years. The long-term ruler was driven out of office in April 2019 by months of mass protests and a military coup. As a result, the military and the civil opposition agreed on a joint transitional government that should pave the way for elections.
Since then, the country has been in a fragile transition phase that should end with the establishment of a civilian government in 2023. High inflation (212 percent in September), economic difficulties and deep political divisions exacerbate the situation.
Washington was alarmed by the events. “The US is deeply concerned about reports of a military takeover of the transitional government,” said the US special envoy for the Horn of Africa, Jeffrey Feltman, 62, on Twitter. “This would violate the constitutional declaration and the democratic aspirations of the Sudanese people.”
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