- An apparent military
coup unfolded inSudan on Monday. - A military general dissolved the government and the prime minister was arrested.
An apparent coup unfolded in Sudan on Monday, with the military arresting the country's prime minister and dissolving the government.
Sudan's Information Ministry confirmed that Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok was arrested and taken to an undisclosed location, the Associated Press reported. His office said he was under house arrest.
Hamdok's office said on Facebook on Monday that there had been a "complete coup."
A military general dissolved the country's ruling body and its transitional government on Monday, Reuters reported.
The country's biggest pro-democracy party and its information ministry called on people to resist the apparent coup, Reuters reported, and photos showed that protests have already started.
In a statement, the Sudanese Congress Party urged "masses of the Sudanese people as a whole and in all parts of Sudan to take to the streets immediately."
"We call upon all the forces of the revolution and the resistance committees in all neighborhoods, villages, countryside, localities and cities of Sudan, to line up as one impregnable line."
A Reuters journalist reported seeing military and paramilitary forces on the streets of Khartoum, Sudan's capital city, restricting the movement of civilians as protesters burned tires.
The Sudanese Professionals' Association, a group leading demands for a transition to democracy, also said there were internet and phone signal outages across the country.
Jeffrey Feltman, the US envoy to the Horn of Africa, has left Khartoum, Sky News Arabia reported.
A takeover by the military would be a major setback for Sudan, which has grappled with a transition to democracy since long-time autocrat Omar al-Bashir was toppled by mass protests.
Monday's arrests come after weeks of rising tensions between Sudan's civilian and military leaders. A failed coup attempt in September fractured the country along old lines, pitting more-conservative Islamists who want a military government against those who toppled al-Bashir. In recent days, both camps have taken to the street in demonstrations.
The arrests of five government figures were confirmed by two officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
The officials said the detained government members include Industry Minister Ibrahim al-Sheikh, Information Minister Hamza Baloul, and Mohammed al-Fiky Suliman, member of the country's ruling transitional body, known as The Sovereign Council, and Faisal Mohammed Saleh, a media adviser to Hamdok.
Ayman Khalid, governor of the state containing the capital, Khartoum, was also arrested, according to the official Facebook page of his office.
The arrests followed meetings that Feltman, the US special envoy, had with Sudanese military and civilian leaders Saturday and Sunday in efforts to resolve the dispute.
NetBlocks, a group which tracks disruptions across the internet, said it had seen a "significant disruption" to both fixed-line and mobile internet connections across Sudan with multiple providers early Monday.
"Metrics corroborate user reports network disruptions appearing consistent with an internet shutdown," the advocacy group said. "The disruption is likely to limit the free flow of information online and