Military forces in Sudan have put Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok under house arrest and arrested several members of the country’s civilian leadership, according to Al-Hadath TV.
The Dubai-based broadcaster said the arrests took place before dawn on Monday.
Citing unidentified sources, Al Hadath said those taken into custody include Industry Minister Ibrahim al-Sheikh, Information Minister Hamza Baloul, and media adviser to the prime minister, Faisal Mohammed Saleh.
The spokesman for Sudan’s ruling sovereign council, Mohammed al-Fiky Suliman, and the governor of Sudan’s capital Khartoum, Ayman Khalid, were also arrested.
According to information from the Ministry of Information, the Prime Minister was arrested for not wanting to support the coup.
“After refusing to be part of the coup, Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok was arrested by an army force and taken to an unidentified location,” the Ministry said in a statement.
“Gathered military forces” are said to be behind the arrests, according to a statement from the Ministry of Information.
Access to telephony and internet have been restricted in the country. Khartoum International Airport has been closed and international flights canceled, reports the al-Arabiya television channel.
The coup happened in spite of an agreement Hamdok had reached with the head of a ruling council, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, in the presence of U.S. special envoy Jeffrey Feltman, he added, according to the al-Arabiya TV channel.
The Sudanese Professionals Association is calling upon Sudanese people to take to streets to “resist” any military coup.
