Cairo: Sudan's leading general declared a state of emergency Monday, hours after his forces arrested the acting prime minister and disrupted the internet in an apparent coup as the country was nearing a planned transition to a civilian leadership.
In a televised address, Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan announced that he was dissolving the country's ruling Sovereign Council, as well as the government led by Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok. He said quarrels among political factions prompted the military to intervene but he pledged to complete the country's democratic transition, saying a new technocrat government would lead Sudan to elections.
In response to the moves, thousands flooded the streets of the capital, Khartoum, and its twin city of Omdurman to protest the apparent military takeover. Footage shared online appeared to show protesters blocking streets and setting fire to tires as security forces used tear gas to disperse them.
Protesters could be heard chanting, The people are stronger, stronger and Retreat is not an option! as plumes of smoke filled the air. Videos on social media showed large crowds crossing bridges over the Nile to the center of the capital.At least 12 protesters were wounded in demonstrations, according to the Sudanese Doctors Committee, without giving details. A takeover by the military would be a major setback for Sudan, which has grappled with a stop-and-go transition to democracy since long-time autocrat Omar al-Bashir was toppled by mass protests two years ago. The moves come less than a month before Burhan was expected to hand the leadership of the ruling transitional council to a civilian. The Sovereign Council, which has run the country since shortly after al-Bashir's ouster, includes both military and civilian members, who have frequently disagreed over Sudan's course and the pace of the transition to democracy.
The United States and the European Union expressed concern over Monday's developments.
Jeffrey Feltman, the U.S. special envoy to the Horn of Africa, said Washington was deeply alarmed by the reports. Feltman met with Sudanese officials over the weekend in an effort to resolve the growing dispute between civilian and military leaders. EU foreign affairs chief Joseph Borrell tweeted that he's following events with the utmost concern.
The first reports about a possible military takeover began trickling out of Sudan before dawn Monday. By mid-morning, the Information Ministry confirmed that the prime minister, Abdalla Hamdok, had been arrested and taken to an undisclosed location. Several senior government figures were also detained, the ministry said in a Facebook post. It said their whereabouts were unknown.
Hamdok's office said in a statement on Facebook that he and his wife were detained early Monday as part of what it described as a complete coup.
In other hallmarks of a takeover, internet access was widely disrupted and the country's state news channel played patriotic traditional music. At one point, military forces stormed the offices of Sudan's state-run television in Omdurman and detained a number of workers, the Information Ministry said.
Among those detained Monday were five senior government figures, according to two officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to share information with the media. The African Union has called for the release of all Sudanese political leaders including Hamdok. Dialogue and consensus is the only relevant path to save the country and its democratic transition, said Moussa Faki, the head of the AU commission.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Mission to Sudan has issued an emphatic rebuke of what it called an ongoing coup and attempts to undermine the northeast African nation's fragile democratic transition.
The reported detentions of the prime minister, government officials and politicians are unacceptable, said the recently formed UN political mission, which has a mandate to assist the country's political transition and protect
human rights.