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Foiled coup proves the need to reform Sudan’s security sector: Hamdok

The failed coup indicates the need to reform the security sector and the army said Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok on Tuesday.

The call came after the end of the aborted coup and the arrest of 21 senior officers in the Sudanese army mainly from the Armoured Corps and the Airborne Forces.

In a speech in the morning, Hamdok stated that the coup attempt was orchestrated by elements inside and outside the armed forces affiliated with the former regime.

He went further to say that the failed attempt was preceded by preparations including the insecurity in the cities, the exploitation of the eastern Sudan crisis, attempts to block national roads, closure of maritime ports, stoppage of oil production, and campaigning against his civilian government.

"The coup which is a manifestation of the national crisis that we referred to in the Prime Minister’s initiative (The Way Forward), clearly indicates the need to reform the security and military apparatus," he emphasized.

Hamdok was obviously pointing to the continued presence of Islamist officers in the army that al-Burhan refuses to purge stressing the need to maintain the unity and cohesion of the military institution.

His statement about the need to get rid of the Islamists element in the army was shared by different groups of the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC).

Hamdok statement about the need to get rid of the Islamists elements in the army was shared by different Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC)

Wajdi Saleh, a member of the Empowerment Removal Committee repeated calls to purge the military and security agencies from the Islamists in order to mitigate the risk of coups d’état and to protect the transition.

In July 2019, high ranking Islamist officers in the Sudanese army sought to seize power but their attempt was foiled. The failed coup pushed the Transitional Military Council to accept to share power with the civilian forces in August.

Military Analyst and former general Hanafi Abdallah pointed out that the attempt was limited as it only involved elements in the Armoured Corps and the Airborne Forces. He added that the ongoing investigations would elucidate the political forces behind the coup.

Al-Burhan’s response

Sudan Armed Forces Commander in Chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan flanked with General Commander of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) Mohamed Hamdan Daglo Hemetti visited the Armoured Corps headquarters in southern Khartoum to praise their courageous efforts to abort the coup attempt.

In his speech to the military, al-Burhan focused on the divisions between the FFC forces and the need for unity to achieve the democratic transition.

He said that the fact the coup was foiled by the army shows the military are the guardians of the country.

"No one can claim that this or that force guarded or protected the country," he said.

"It is the armed forces that protect the country, as they protect (democratic) change and lead it to its ends".

"We want to lead this country until the organization of free and fair elections in which the people choose who will rule them," he stressed.

Also, he pointed out that RSF Commander Hemetti comes with him to show the unity of the security forces.

Source: Sudan Tribune