SUDAN NEWS ALERT: BBC - Sudan failed coup: Government blames pro-Bashir elements

21/9/2021: BBC - Sudan failed coup: Government blames pro-Bashir elements

The BBC’s report on the failed coup attempt in Sudan describes its build-up.

Following “intense” military activity in Khartoum and nearby Omdorman, the main bridge across the River Nile was shut. In the early hours of the morning, shooting was heard near a military base housing a tank division in Omdurman, journalist Mohammed Alamin told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme. Shortly after that, a news flash on state TV said that a coup attempt had been thwarted. The coup plotters had tried but failed to take over a building housing the state media.

Correspondents say some elements within the military are likely to be strongly opposed to a transition that will see them lose considerable power. Mohanad Hashim, a journalist for government-run Sudan TV in Khartoum, reports that loyalists to former dictator Omar al-Bashir who were blamed for the coup say they are disgruntled with Sudan's tough economic situation.