Sudan’s Military Might Have Overplayed Its Hand

Sudan’s Military Might Have Overplayed Its Hand
The head of Sudan’s military, Gen. Abdel-Fattah al-Burhan, speaks during a press conference, Khartoum, Sudan, Oct. 26, 2021 (AP photo by Marwan Ali).

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Across Sudan, people have taken to the streets to protest a military coup that threatens to derail their aspirations for a democratic future.

On Oct. 25, just weeks after a previous failed coup attempt, Sudan’s military leadership detained Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, several key civilian government officials and opposition figures. The coup was led by Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the head of Sudan’s Sovereign Council, which had overseen the country’s transitional government since the fall of longtime dictator Omar al-Bashir in 2019. Al-Burhan subsequently dissolved the government, declared a state of emergency and formed a new government in order to, in his words, “rectify the revolution’s course.” 

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