Sudan coup attempt ‘thwarted’, says government

A coup attempt was foiled in Sudan and the situation is under control, the country’s military said on Tuesday in a statement read on state TV.

Interrogation of suspects involved in the attempted coup was due to begin and the military would issue a statement shortly, spokesman Mohamed al-Faki Suleiman said. Sudan has been on a fragile path to democratic rule since the military’s ouster of the country’s longtime ruler Omar al-Bashir in April 2019, following four months of mass protests.The country is now ruled by a joint civilian and military government that faces towering economic and security challenges. Over 40 officers arrested“Over 40 officers have been arrested,” reported Al Jazeera’s Zeinab Salih from Omdurman, the Sudanese capital’s twin city“It is important to note that this follows agitation after the closure of highways connecting Khartoum to Port Sudan by supporters of former Sudanese leader Omar al-Bashir,” she added. Information on coup helped thwart attemptA government source confirmed to Al Jazeera that information about the coup attempt was made available to the government on Monday evening, which helped thwart it quickly.“We still don’t know why there was a coup attempt but military sources whom we spoke to said they had the information that there would be an attempt from last night which made it easier to foil,” reported Al Jazeera’s Hiba Morgan from Khartoum.“There is still no word from the government as to why there was a coup attempt. There has been a war of words between the parties who are the ruling coalition, so lots of tensions, lots of politics which could potentially be the reason as to why there was an attempted coup,” she added.Lack of leadership, vision“The question is not why there has been an attempt for a coup, the question is what are these officers trying to achieve,” Waleed Madibo, founder and president of Sudan Policy Forum, told Al Jazeera.“The legislative body was supposed to be formulated three months after the revolution, now it has been three years and there aren’t any signals that the civilian component of the government is trying to formulate that body,” he added, speaking from Doha, Qatar.

“It seems that there is a total lack of leadership and a total lack of vision that can lead the country out of this quagmire,” said Madibo. ‘Coup attempt thwarted’, says gov’t A coup attempt was foiled in Sudan and the situation is under control, the country’s military said on Tuesday in a statement read on state TV.“An authorised source in the presidency of the council of ministers said that security and military authorities have thwarted a coup attempt at dawn today,” the Sudan News Agency said via Twitter.“The situation is under control, and those involved in it [the coup attempt] have been arrested and investigations are underway,” added the statement. Return to normalTraffic appeared to be flowing smoothly in central Khartoum, including around army headquarters, where months of mass protests prompted the ousting of veteran president Omar al-Bashir in a palace coup two years ago.Sudanese security forces did however close the main bridge across the Nile connecting Khartoum to its twin city Omdurman.Weapons handover“The army said it was still containing the area where the arms depot is and that some officers were still inside,” said Al Jazeera’s Hiba Morgan reporting from Khartoum.“They are negotiating to hand over their weapons and come out,” she added.“They [the army] say that interrogations with the officers they have already arrested will begin shortly but, again, we are waiting for that official statement from the Sovereignty Council and the military,” said Morgan.‘Many questions remain’“There are still a lot of questions about which group exactly is behind this and the purpose of the coup,” Al Jazeera’s Hiba Morgan reported from Khartoum.Morgan said that Khartoum woke up to “what seemed like a pretty normal morning” with the exception that one of the bridges leading to Omdurman, the twin city of the capital, being blocked.“There were tanks on the bridge preventing civilians from crossing and there were questions from the people as to why there were tanks,” explained Morgan. “Then came the report that there was a failed coup attempt.”“Who exactly that group is and why exactly they staged a coup, that’s the question we are waiting to hear answers from the Sovereignty Council,” said Morgan. ‘All is under control’, say Sudanese authoritiesSudanese authorities reported that the military remains in control, while Sudan’s state-run television called on the public “to counter” the attempt but did not provide further details.“All is under control. The revolution is victorious,” Suleiman, a member of the ruling military-civilian council, wrote on Facebook. He also called on the Sudanese to protect the transition.A military official said an unspecified number of troops from the armoured corps were behind the attempt and that they tried to take over several government institutions but were stopped in their tracks.The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to brief the media, said many troops, including high-ranking officers, have been arrested. Plotters try to control radio, TV buildingAsharq News also reported that the plotters “tried to take control of the radio and television building” in Khartoum.A source told Reuters that the coup attempt included efforts to control Omdurman .