Sudan PM detained in apparent coup

Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of Sudan’s capital Khartoum on Monday (October 25), after soldiers arrested most of the members of Sudan's cabinet, and detained the prime minister, in an apparent military coup.

Injuries and gunfire have been reported.

Footage from local broadcasters shows protesters carrying the national flag near the military headquarters, with plumes of black smoke and fire.

Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, a general who headed the Sovereign Council, a power-sharing ruling body, announced a state of emergency across the country and dissolved the council and the transitional government.

Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok was detained and moved to an undisclosed location after refusing to issue a statement in support of the coup, according to the information ministry, which was still apparently under the control of Hamdok's supporters.

The ministry called for resistance against the coup, and civilians, like this man who did not provide his name, followed suit:

"An urgent call to all Sudanese civilians who want to protect their revolution, what the military is doing is a betrayal to all civilians on all fronts. It is the duty of all civilians to move and to block all the roads outside to prevent any military force to move. Right now, all of us must unite to show the truth. It's to be or not to be, and we will."

Sudan had been on edge since a failed coup plot just last month.

Military and civilian groups have been sharing power following the toppling of Omar al-Bashir two years ago.

The military was meant to pass leadership of the joint Sovereign Council to a civilian figure in the coming months.

But transitional authorities had struggled to move forward on several issues, including whether to hand over Bashir to the International Criminal Court, where he is wanted for war crimes.