UPDATE 3 - Sudan army foils coup attempt

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KHARTOUM, Sudan (AA) – The Sudanese army foiled a coup attempt in the country, according to the military on Tuesday.

"The armed forces thwarted a coup attempt and the situation was completely under control,” Brigadier Al-Taher Abu Haja, the media adviser to the Chief of Staff, said in a statement cited by the state news agency SUNA.

A military statement said 21 army officers and dozens of soldiers were arrested in connection with the failed coup attempt.

"In the early hours of this morning, some [military] officers tried to seize power in the country," the statement said, adding that “all positions seized by the putschists were restored."

State television earlier reported that a coup attempt was taking place in the country, amid reports of sporadic shooting inside the Armored Corps in the southern part of Khartoum.

Following the coup plot, chairman of Sudan’s ruling Sovereign Council, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, visited the Armored Corps in Shagara region, south of Khartoum.

A statement released by the Sovereign Council said al-Burhan saluted the army soldiers in the Armored Corps “for their strong stand and containing the situation with wisdom in a way that spared the country bloodshed”.

Al-Burhan called on all political forces in Sudan to unite for building the country. "We want to take this country and hand it over to the public will, to free and fair elections," he told army troops.

Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok accused supporters of the former regime of Omar al-Bashir of being behind the coup attempt.

"What happened is an orchestrated coup by factions inside and outside the armed forces and this is an extension of the attempts by remnants since the fall of the former regime to abort the civilian democratic transition," Hamdok said in a televised statement.

"This attempt was preceded by extensive preparations represented by lawlessness in the cities and the exploitation of the situation in the east of the country, attempts to close national roads and ports and block oil production."

Sovereignty Council member Mohamed Al-Faki Suleiman earlier confirmed to Anadolu Agency that the coup attempt was "contained."

"The situation is currently under control, as some of those involved in the coup attempt were arrested and subjected to interrogation to find out the details of the plot and those behind it,” he said.

In an earlier Facebook post, Suleiman called on the Sudanese people to confront the coup attempt and “rise up to defend the country and protect the democratic transition."

According to Anadolu Agency correspondent, Sudanese authorities reopened the road in front of the army headquarters in Khartoum and the bridge linking the capital with Bahri.

In April 2019, the military deposed long-serving President Omar al-Bashir after mass protests against his rule.

In August of the same year, a civilian-military transition authority was created to lead political transition for a three-year period.

*Writing by Ali Abo Rezeg, Mohammed Amin and Ahmed Asmar