Joint military forces on Monday detained civilian members of Sudan’s ruling council and ministers in the transitional government in what activists denounced as a coup.
According to the information ministry, the detentions came as tensions peaked between the military and civilian figures who shared power since August 2019 following the ouster of autocratic president Omar al-Bashir.
Internet services were cut across the country and the main roads and bridges connecting with the capital Khartoum shuttered.
The Sudanese Professionals Association, an umbrella group of trade unions which were key in leading the 2019 anti-Bashir protests, denounced what it called a “military coup” and urged demonstrators “to fiercely resist” it.
The developments come just two days after a Sudanese faction calling for a transfer of power to civilian rule warned of a “creeping coup”, during a news conference that an unidentified mob attacked had sought to prevent.
Sudan has been undergoing a precarious transition marred by political divisions and power struggles since the April 2019 ouster of Bashir.
Since August 2019, the country has been led by a civilian-military administration tasked with overseeing the transition to full civilian rule.
But the main civilian bloc — the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) — which led the anti-Bashir protests in 2019, has splintered into two opposing factions.
Analysts have said the recent mass protests showed strong support for a civilian-led democracy, but warned street demonstrations may have little impact on the powerful factions pushing a return to military rule.