(Bloomberg) —
Sudan said it foiled a coup as forces quelled a mutiny at a military barracks near the capital on Tuesday, the latest upheaval in the African country where long-time dictator Omar al-Bashir was ousted in 2019.
Some roads were briefly closed in Khartoum and there was a military presence on the streets following the incident in Omdurman, Khartoum’s twin city, that was described by people familiar with the matter. They asked not to be identified because they’re not authorized to speak to the media.
Asharq News also reported there’d been a failed attempt to seize the state TV and radio building.
Government news agency SUNA said all participants in what it called a coup attempt had been arrested and investigations were underway. Sudan is being run by an uneasy coalition of civilian and military figures in a transitional government that’s supposed to lead the country to democratic elections later this decade.
“Everything is under control,” Mohamed Lafaki Suleman, a civilian member of Sudan’s transitional sovereign council, said on his Facebook page.
The incident starkly underlined the challenges faced by Sudan, which has shed its status as an international pariah and is trying to rebuild its economy and transition to democracy after Bashir was ousted by the army amid a popular uprising.
Reforms implemented by the transitional government have helped Sudan secure funding from the International Monetary Fund and a pledge by the Paris Club of creditors to rework $23.5 billion of its debt. Still, many question the army’s commitment to surrendering power, while authorities have long warned of the threat posed by disgruntled remnants of the dictator’s three-decade rule.
Pan-Arab satellite channel Arabiya reported earlier that supporters of Bashir’s regime were behind the attempted putsch. Authorities also reported mutinies or failed coups in July 2019 and January 2020.
(Updates with arrests in fourth paragraph.)
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