SUDANESE Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, members of the Transitional Sovereignty Council’s civilian component and several ministers have been arrested by joint military forces, Sudan’s Ministry of Information and Communications said yesterday.

“Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, in a message from his house arrest, asks Sudanese to hold on to peace and occupy streets to defend their revolution,” the ministry said on its Facebook account.

“Internet service cut off mobile phone networks, and bridges closed by military forces,” it said. “The joint military forces storm the radio and television headquarters in Omdurman, and detain a number of employees.”

Since the announcement of foiling a coup attempt Sept. 21, the tensions between the military and their civilian partners in the transitional government have continued to escalate.

Sudan is ruled amid a 39-month transitional period under a transitional government of military and civilian elements, which was established after the ouster of former President Omar al-Bashir in April 2019. The transitional period is set to be followed by elections to form a new government.

The country’s main pro-democracy group and the largest political party urged people in separate appeals to take to the streets to counter the apparent military coup. Thousands of people flooded the streets of Khartoum and its twin city of Omdurman. Footage shared online appeared to show protesters blocking streets and setting fire to tires as security forces used tear gas to disperse them.

A takeover by the military would be a major setback for Sudan, which has grappled with a transition to democracy since long-time ruler Omar al-Bashir was toppled by mass protests two years ago.

Early yesterday, the U.S. Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa Jeffrey Feltman said Washington was “deeply alarmed” by reports of the military takeover.

A failed coup attempt in September fractured the country along old lines, pitting more-conservative Islamists who want a military government against those who toppled al-Bashir in protests. In recent days, both camps have taken to the street in demonstrations.

There have been previous military coups in Sudan since it gained its independence from Britain and Egypt in 1956. Al-Bashir came to power in a 1989 military coup that removed the country’s last elected government.

The arrests followed meetings by Feltman, the special U.S. envoy, with Sudanese military and civilian leaders Saturday and Sunday in efforts to resolve the dispute.

Sudan’s state news website highlighted the meetings with military officials.

The Sudanese Communist Party called on workers to go on strike and mass civil disobedience after what it described as a “full military coup” orchestrated by the Sovereign Council’s head Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan.

(SD-Xinhua)