Seven Dead And 140 Injured In Anti-coup Protest, Sudan's Military Leader Declares State Of Emergency

Illustration of military coup in Sudan. (Wikimedia Commons/Agence France-Presse)

JAKARTA - Sudan's military seized power from the transitional government on Monday, with a health ministry official saying seven people were killed by gunfire and 140 injured in clashes between the army and street protesters.

The leader of the takeover, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, dissolved the military-civilian Sovereign Council that had been set up to guide the country towards democracy after the overthrow of longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir in a popular uprising two years ago.

General Burhan declared a state of emergency, saying the armed forces needed to protect safety and security. He promised to hold elections in July 2023 and hand them over to the then elected civilian government.

"What the country is experiencing right now is a real threat and danger to the dreams of the youth and the hopes of the nation," he said.

Sudan's Ministry of Information, which remains loyal to ousted Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok said on its Facebook page the transitional constitution only gives the prime minister the right to declare a state of emergency and that military action is a crime.

The ministry said Prime Minister Hamdok was still the legitimate transitional authority, he said. The UN Security Council is likely to discuss Sudan behind closed doors Tuesday, diplomats said.

Youths who opposed the military coup barricaded the streets and clashed with the army. The main opposition coalition, the Forces of Freedom and Change, which pushed for Bashir's removal and negotiated the military-civilian council, said on Twitter that it was calling for peaceful action in the streets to topple the military takeover, including demonstrations, roadblocks and civil disobedience.

PM Hamdok, an economist and former senior UN official, was detained and taken to an undisclosed location after refusing to issue a statement in support of the takeover, the information ministry said.

The ministry urged resistance and said tens of thousands of people opposing the takeover had taken to the streets and faced gunfire near the military headquarters in Khartoum. Meanwhile, central bank employees announced a strike to resist the coup, the ministry said.

Troops have arrested civilian members of the Sovereign Council and government figures, the ministry said. Also detained is the news director of state TV, his family said.

In Khartoum's twin city of Omdurman, protesters barricaded roads and chanted support for civilian rule.

"Burhan cannot deceive us. This is a military coup," said a young man named Saleh.

Separately, White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said, "We reject military action and call for the immediate release of the prime minister and others who have been placed under house arrest."

Meanwhile, the US State Department said Washington had nothing to share about Hamdok's whereabouts and condition. A department spokesman said it stopped $700 million in economic support for Sudan.

To note, Sudan has been ruled for most of its post-colonial history by military leaders who seized power in a coup. It has become a pariah for the West and was on the US terrorism list under Bashir, who hosted Osama bin Laden in the 1990s and is wanted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague for war crimes.

The country has been on the edge since last month when a failed military coup plot, blamed on Bashir's supporters, sparked accusations between the military and civilians.

In recent weeks, a coalition of rebel groups and political parties allied with the military and asked it to dissolve the civilian government, while Cabinet ministers took part in protests against the prospect of military rule.

Sudan is also in economic crisis. Aided by foreign aid, civilian officials have claimed credit for some tentative signs of stabilization after the sharp devaluation of the currency and the lifting of fuel subsidies.