Sudan’s top general General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan has reappointed himself as head of the army-run interim governing body. This announcement came two weeks after he dissolved the government led by Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, detained the civilian leadership, and declared a nationwide state of emergency.

“The commander-in-chief of the armed forces issued a constitutional decree to form the Transitional Sovereignty Council,” Burhan said in a statement.

The eleven-member Sovereign Council was first formed in summer 2019 after the military signed a power-sharing deal with pro-democracy forces following the ouster of then-president Omar al-Bashir.

According to the state TV, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, leader of the feared paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, remains his deputy. The council also retains all three generals Shamsaldine al-Kabashi, Yasser Atta, and Ibrahim Gaber. Eight civilians, including one from the previous council, were also appointed.

Since the 25 October coup, more than 100 government officials and political leaders have been detained, along with a large number of protesters and activists. According to Sudanese and the United Nations, at least 14 anti-coup protesters have been killed due to excessive force used by the country’s security forces.

The coup in Sudan has been condemned by the United Nations, the United States and the European Union. All of them have urged the generals to restore a military-civilian transitional government and mediation efforts are ongoing to resolve the crisis.

Image Courtesy: AFP