Sudan’s state media on Thursday morning announced that the armed forces will be making an important announcement soon. The report has sparked speculation that the embattled president Omar al-Bashir could finally decide to step down under massive pressure from protests that have continued from last four months.
“The armed forces will present an important statement shortly,” the announcement on state television read. “Be ready for it.”
No other information has been provided.
The army and security services deployed troops around the defence ministry and on major roads and bridges in Khartoum amid signs that the army was preparing to take over. Thousands of people have joined the sit-on anti-government protest outside the ministry that has been underway since Saturday.
Notably, attempts by security forces to break up the demonstration have led to the death of at least 22 people including five soldiers, who organizers said were defending the protesters and injured more than 150. In February, Bashir declared a state of emergency in the country in response to the protests.
While nothing has been officially announced yet, social media reports and witnesses on the ground have reported the people already flooded the streets in Khartoum dancing, banging drums and chanting against the government in celebration.
“He is a coward and he has fallen!” witnesses heard people chanting amid an extensive military presence on the streets of the capital.
According to Bloomberg, Al-Bashir is currently under house arrest, and the army is in the process of setting up a council to administer state affairs.
The protests, which began in December against price rise in the country, soon turned against Bashir’s three decades of rule. He took control after a coup in 1989 and became President in 1993. He is accused of conducting a campaign of ethnic cleansing in Sudan’s Darfur region and was nearly arrested in 2015 while visiting South Africa.
