Pro-democracy protesters blocked some streets in the Sudanese capital with makeshift barricades and burning tires on Tuesday, a day after the military seized power in a quick coup widely denounced by the international community.
The prime minister and other senior officials of the transitional government arrested by the military on Monday continued to be held in a military camp outside the capital, Khartoum.
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The military takeover threatened to derail Sudan’s fragile transition to democracy, which had been under way for two years. The United Nations Security Council was due to hold a closed session on the situation later on Tuesday.
Western governments condemned the coup and demanded the release of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and other officials. The administration of US President Joe Biden has announced that it will end the emergency aid for Sudan in the amount of 700 million US dollars.
Protesters called for a mass march on Saturday to call for a return to civilian rule.
The Sudanese military seized power on Monday, more than two years after a popular uprising forced the overthrow of longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir. Sudanese people then flooded the streets of Khartoum and elsewhere in the country in protest. At least four people were killed and over 80 injured when security forces opened fire on protesters in Khartoum, the Sudanese Medical Committee said.
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General Abdel-Fattah Burhan, the chief military official in Sudan, dissolved the Hamdok government and the Sovereign Council, a joint military and civil body created shortly after al-Bashir’s overthrow to rule the country. He now heads a military council that should rule Sudan until the July 2023 elections.
Burhan blamed disputes and divisions between political factions for the military takeover, claiming that such divisions threaten the country’s integrity. However, the coup comes less than a month before Burhan should have handed over control of the Sovereign Council to a civilian, a move that would have reduced the power of the military.
The general said he was serious about holding the elections on schedule. But 19 months before the vote, it’s not clear whether the military is ready to let go of its decade-long grip.
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The coup came after weeks of increasing tensions between the military and the civilian component of the government in the course of the transition to democracy in Sudan. The African nation is linguistically and culturally linked to the Arab world.
Some protesters remained on the streets in Khartoum and its twin town Omdurman on Tuesday morning, with many streets barricaded and blocked by burning tires.
Troops from the military and the dreaded Rapid Support Forces patrolled the neighborhoods of Khartoum overnight, chasing protesters. The international group Human Rights Watch said the forces used live ammunition against demonstrators.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called for an immediate cessation of violence against demonstrators and the restoration of Internet services. He said the US would coordinate with partners to “develop a common diplomatic approach to address these actions and prevent them from leading to further instability in Sudan and the region”.
The Sudanese professional association, a trade union group behind the uprising against al-Bashir, called on people to strike and show civil disobedience.
Separately, Sudan’s Popular Liberation MovementNorth, the country’s main rebel group, condemned the coup and called on people to take to the streets.
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