After the early morning arrests of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and other senior officials, thousands demonstrated in the streets of the capital, Khartoum, and its twin city of Omdurman.
As plumes of smoke rose, protesters could be heard chanting, “The people are stronger, stronger!” and “Retreat is not an option!” Social media video showed crowds crossing bridges over the Nile to the center of the capital.
The head of the military, Gen.
Burhan said quarrels among political factions prompted the military intervention.
As darkness fell in Khartoum, barricades were still burning and occasional gunshots could be heard, said Volker Perthes, the U.N.
The Biden administration is suspending $700 million in emergency economic aid to Sudan that had been allocated to help the transition, said State Department spokesman Ned Price.
Michelle Bachelet, the U.N.
Since al-Bashir, who remains in prison, was forced from power, Sudan has tried to rid itself of the international pariah status it held under the autocrat.
Tensions only rose from there, as the country fractured along old lines, with more conservative Islamists who want a military government pitted against those who toppled al-Bashir in protests.
Amid the standoff, the generals have called repeatedly for dissolving Hamdok’s transitional government — and Burhan, who leads the ruling Sovereign Council, said frequently the military would only relinquish power to an elected government, an indication the generals might not stick to the plan to hand leadership of the body to a civilian sometime in November.
As part of efforts to resolve the crisis, Jeffrey Feltman, the U.S.
The arrests began a few hours later, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief media.
The military has been emboldened in its dispute with civilian leaders by the support of tribal protesters, who blocked the country’s main Red Sea port for weeks.
The first reports of a possible military takeover emerged before dawn, and the Information Ministry later confirmed them, saying Hamdok and several senior government figures had been arrested.
Among those detained were senior government figures and political leaders, including the information and industry ministers, a media adviser to Hamdok and the governor of the state that includes the capital, according to the senior military official and another official.
After news of the arrests spread, the main pro-democracy group and two political parties appealed to the people to take to the streets.