Sudan’s Military To Remain in Charge After Seizing Power in Coup

World News

By ShaCamree Gowdy Published: October 27, 2021

Sudan’s Military To Remain in Charge After Seizing Power in Coup

A soldier walks through a market outside of Yei town in Central Equatoria state, Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2020. Ten years after South Sudan gained its independence and two years after its own deadly civil war ended, large-scale fighting has subsided but clashes continue between communities and between the government and groups that did not sign the peace deal — and the use of rape as a weapon remains rampant. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick)

In Summary

Political fuels have allegedly led to Sudan’s top officials overthrowing the government and taking over, a move that looks to be permanent.

In a move military head Lt. Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan is dubbing “a new Sudan,” the country’s military seized power Monday, dissolving the two-year partnership formed after longtime tyrant Omar Hassan al-Bashir was overthrown by a popular revolution in 2019.

The coup occurred just hours after military authorities detained Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, prompting tens of thousands of protesters to fill the streets of Sudan’s capital of Khartoum and soldiers to open fire, killing seven people and injuring at least 140 more, per New York Times.

The Associated Press reports that al-Burhan claimed political feuds fueled the military intervention, which was condemned by the United Nations, the United States and the European Union. Tensions have been mounting for weeks over the path and speed of Sudan’s democratic transition, a country in Africa tied to the Arab world by language and culture.

Al-Burhan announced martial law and said the military will establish a technocratic government to manage the country to elections in July 2023, making clear that they will remain in charge.

“The armed forces will continue completing the democratic transition until the handover of the country’s leadership to a civilian, elected government,” he said, per AP, adding that the “young men and women who made this revolution” would participate in rewriting the constitution and forming a legislative assembly.

President Joe Biden and the U.S. are “deeply concerned” about the takeover.