On October 25th, 2021, the military of Sudan seized power from the government. General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, a military leader, is now the acting head. Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, members of his cabinet, and other civilian leaders were all placed on house arrest (BBC 2021). Hamdok was temporarily moved to al-Burhan’s residence due to fears over his safety (Al Jazeera 2021). Al-Burhan plans to remain head until the July 2023 election and says that “a new government would be formed [and will] contain no typical politicians (Al Jazeera 2021).” The newly formed cabinet will share the leadership of the country with the armed forces (CBC 2021).

Al-Burhan claims that the coup d’ètat was in response to anti-coup protests earlier in the week (Al Jazeera 2021).

In response to the coup, there have been multiple protests, some turning bloody. On Monday, October 25, 7-10 protestors were killed after soldiers opened fire, with many more injuries. Additionally, employees of the Central Bank of Sudan are on strike and doctors are refusing to work in military-run hospitals - with exceptions for emergencies (BBC 2021). Over 30 diplomats in and outside Sudan have rejected the takeover, and six of them (including those from Canada, the US, and the EU) have been fired (Magdy 2021). The US has suspended $700 million in emergency funds to Sudan, and the UN security council met on October 26 to discuss how to handle the situation (BBC 2021).

The current economic and political situation is due to decades of mismanagement and bad governance aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic (United Nations 2021).