Sudan's army declares state of emergency and dissolves government

Sudan's top general declared a state of emergency, dissolved the authorities leading the country's democratic transition and announced the formation o

Sudan's army declares state of emergency and dissolves government

Sudan's top general declared a state of emergency, dissolved the authorities leading the country's democratic transition and announced the formation of a new government after soldiers arrested civilian leaders on Monday after what activists called a "coup".

General Abdel Fattah al-Burhans' announcement came in a televised speech after the armed forces arrested government officials responsible for the transition to democracy since the fall of President Omar al-Bashir in April 2019.

 "To correct the revolutionary course, we decided to declare a state of emergency at the national level ... dissolve the transitional sovereign council and dissolve the cabinet," Burhan said.

His testimony came after clashes broke out in the capital, Khartoum, in which soldiers fired sharp shots at people who took to the streets to protest the seizure of power. The violence was mainly concentrated outside the army headquarters in the capital, hours after soldiers arrested Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, his government ministers and civilian members of the Sudan's government council, the Sudanese Ministry of Justice said.

They were taken away after "refusing to support the coup," he said on Facebook. At dawn, internet services across the country were cut and major roads and bridges to Khartoum closed before soldiers stormed the headquarters of Sudan's state broadcaster in the twin city of Omdurman, the capital, he told the ministry.

Shortly afterwards, people took to the streets, setting tires on fire and stacking rows of bricks on the streets to block them in protest against the military movement, an AFP correspondent reported. "The armed forces fired sharp bullets at demonstrators who oppose the military coup in front of the army headquarters," said the Ministry of Information.

 According to the Sudanese Central Committee of Doctors, an independent medical union, around a dozen people have been injured in the clashes so far. International concern The takeover, following weeks of tensions between the military and civilians since Bashir's displacement, has been condemned by the international community.

The European Union called for the release of civilian leaders and insisted that "violence and bloodshed must be avoided". "The EU is very concerned that the Sudanese armed forces have allegedly placed Prime Minister Hamdok under house arrest and arrested other members of the civilian leadership, and we demand his early release," said European Commission spokeswoman Nabila Massrali. 

America's Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa Jeffrey Feltman said: "The United States is deeply alarmed by reports of a military takeover by the transitional government." "Any violent change in the transitional government puts US aid at risk," he said on Twitter. The UN called the arrests "unacceptable".

"I call on the security forces to immediately release those who have been illegally detained or placed under house arrest," said Volker Perthes, his special envoy in Sudan. The African Union and the Arab League also expressed concern.

 Military coup The Sudanese Professionals Association, a group that brings together the unions involved in leading the 2019 anti-Bashir protests, condemned a so-called "military coup" and called on protesters to "resist fiercely."

 The events come two days after a Sudanese faction calling for a transfer of power to a civilian government issued a press conference warning of a "progressive coup" attacked by an unidentified mob. Bashir, who ruled Sudan with an iron fist for three decades, is behind bars in the Kober maximum security prison in Khartoum.

 The former president is wanted by the International Criminal Court for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Darfur region of Sudan. Since August 2019, the country has been run by a civil-military administration tasked with overseeing the transition to a full-fledged civil government, but the main civil bloc, the Forces for Freedom and Change, which led the protests against Bashir in 2019, has split into two opposing factions.

"The crisis in question is planned and has the form of a coup," said CFF chief Yasser Arman on Saturday at a press conference in Khartoum. "We are renewing our confidence in the government, Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, and the reform of the transitional institutions, but without dictation or coercion," added Arman.

Sudan's banking association and doctors' union declared campaigns for "civil disobedience" on Monday. The protesters marched through the streets of Khartoum with the Sudanese flag. it is the choice of the peoples "and" No to the military government, "chanted some of them.

We will not accept the military government and are ready to give our lives for the democratic transition in Sudan," said Haitham Mohamed from Monstrador said Bashir. , another protester.