A top general of Sudan’s ruling military council (TMC) on Thursday announced on state television that the military has foiled an attempted military coup and arrested 12 officers and four soldiers who led the coup attempt, reported BBC.
“Officers and soldiers from the army and National Intelligence and Security Service, some of them retired, were trying to carry out a coup,” General Jamal Omar of the ruling military council said in a televised statement. “The regular forces were able to foil the attempt.”
However, he did not clarify when the attempt was made.
The announcement follows the ruling military and civilian protesters agreed last week to end a political impasse after the army in April ousted longtime ruler Omar al-Bashir on the back of a popular uprising.
The general said of the 12 officers arrested, five were retired. He added that the security forces are still in search of the mastermind of the attempted coup.
“This is an attempt to block the agreement which has been reached by the Transitional Military Council and the Alliance for Freedom and Change that aims to open the road for Sudanese people to achieve their demands,” Omar said.
The news was revealed late on Thursday when the ruling military council’s legal advisers and protest leaders were going through the details of their agreement at a luxury hotel in the capital, Khartoum. The agreement was reached last week after intense mediation by the African Union and Ethiopian envoys. It calls for the formation of a joint transitional civilian-military ruling body.
Under the agreement, the presidency of the new ruling body will be held by the military for the first 21 months and a civilian for the remaining 18 months. It would comprise six civilians, including five from the protest movement, and five officers. The military council and the protest leaders are yet to sign the agreement.
