Sudan says 21 officers held over coup bid

(gitficonline.com)

Sudanese authorities say they have foiled an attempted coup, accusing plotters loyal to ousted president Omar al-Bashir of a failed bid to derail the revolution that removed him from power in 2019 and ushered in a transition to democracy.

Sudan's military said 21 officers and a number of soldiers had been detained in connection to the coup attempt and a search continued for others.

All affected locations under army control, it said.

The coup attempt points to the difficult path facing a government that has reoriented Sudan since 2019, winning foreign debt relief and taking steps to normalise ties with Israel while battling a severe economic crisis.

A ruling body known as the Sovereign Council has run Sudan under a fragile power-sharing deal between the military and civilians since the overthrow of Bashir.

Elections are expected in 2024.

"What happened is an orchestrated coup by factions inside and outside the armed forces and this is an extension of the attempts by remnants since the fall of the former regime to abort the civilian democratic transition," Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok said in a televised statement.

"This attempt was preceded by extensive preparations represented by lawlessness in the cities and the exploitation of the situation in the east of the country, attempts to close national roads and ports and block oil production."

The streets of the capital Khartoum appeared calm, with people moving around normally, a witness said.

Early on Tuesday morning, a witness said military units loyal to the council had used tanks to close a bridge connecting Khartoum with Omdurman, just across the River Nile.

A government source, speaking anonymously, said plotters had tried to take control of state radio in Omdurman.

The suspected instigators of the coup attempt had been arrested and were being interrogated, government spokesman Hamza Balol said on state TV, adding that the last pockets of rebellion at Al Shajara camp in south Khartoum were being dealt with.

On a visit to the camp shortly afterwards Sudan's top military leader, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, condemned the coup attempt, saying it could have had "catastrophic consequences on the unity of the army, the military and the country".

"We want to take this country and hand it over to the public will, to free and fair elections," he told troops.

It was not the first challenge to transitional authorities.

They say they have foiled or detected previous coup attempts linked to factions loyal to Bashir, who was deposed by the army after months of protests against his rule.

Those involved in the latest effort would be held to account, Hamdok said on Tuesday.

"For the first time, there are people who were arrested during their implementation of the coup," he said, repeating earlier calls for the reform and restructuring of Sudan's sprawling security apparatus.