Sudanese government quells a coup attempt

After heavy gunfire from the headquarters of the Operations Department of the General Intelligence Agency, panic prevailed in the Sudanese capital Khartoum and the number of its suburbs.

"The Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) managed to control the sites of mutinous in the early morning of Wednesday," said Lt Gen Mohamed Osman al-Hussein al-Hassan, the Army Chief of Staff, adding that 2 people were killed and 4 wounded in the incident.

Sudanese officials said the resisting intelligence officers had surrendered to the authorities with their weapons and 43 people had been detained in connection with the case. 

On 19 December 2018, a series of demonstrations broke out in several Sudanese cities, due in part to rising cost of living and deterioration of economic conditions at all levels of society. The protests quickly turned from demands for urgent economic reforms into demands for President Omar al-Bashir to step down.

The military removed al-Bashir from power in a coup d'état on 11 April. (ILKHA)