(ANSA) - KHARTOUM, OCTOBER 25 - "Civilian members of the transitional sovereign council and a number of transitional government ministers, including Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok, were arrested by joint military forces" in Sudan.
This was confirmed by the Ministry of Information in a note on Facebook specifying that the arrested were taken to an unspecified place.
The internet has been shut down across the country and the main roads and access bridges to the capital, Khartoum, have been closed, the information ministry said. Dozens of protesters set fire to car tires during rallies formed on the streets of the capital to protest the arrests. While the pan-Arab broadcaster Al Jazeer reports on the "interruption of the transmissions of some Sudanese radio stations including the official FM radio".
On Twitter, the American envoy to the Horn of Africa, Jeffrey Feltman, said the United States was "deeply alarmed" by the announcements of the arrests of civilian leaders.
These announcements of a military takeover go "against the constitutional declaration (which regulates the transition in the country) and the democratic aspirations of the Sudanese people", argued Feltman.
(HANDLE).