By Mohammed Amin

KHARTOUM, Sudan (AA): Sudan’s military arrested members of the civilian government and leaders of the ruling coalition of the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC), officials in the capital Khartoum announced early on Monday.

The officials, who declined to be named, also confirmed that the military surrounded the residence of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and placed him under house arrest.

According to local media outlets, Industry Minister Ibrahim al-Sheikh and Information Minister Hamza Balloul are among the arrested ministers.

The Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA) has called on public protests against what it said is a “military coup against the civilian government.”

Political parties in the North African nation, including Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party and Sudanese Communist Party, called for civil disobedience in protest of the “coup.”

In a press release, they urged people to resist attempts by the army to seize power.

Eyewitnesses said there were protests in some neighborhoods of Khartoum against the “coup.”

According to an Anadolu Agency reporter on the ground, electricity and internet have been cut across large areas of Khartoum.

After a failed military coup last month, deep tensions between the military and civilian administration erupted in the north African country.

On Friday, thousands of pro-military supporters organized a protest against Hamdok’s transitional government in the capital of Khartoum, further escalating political tension between the civilian administration and the army.

The protest came a day after thousands of pro-civilian government supporters held protests across the country, while pro-military protestors had been holding a sit-in outside the presidential palace for the last seven days.

On Thursday night, Hamdok addressed the nation, praising pro-civilian protestors and pledging that his government would continue to support civilian rule and democratic development.

The country is currently administered by a Sovereign Council of military and civilian authorities, which oversees the transition period until elections slated for 2023, as part of a precarious power-sharing pact between the military and the FFC.

* Writing by Ali Abo Rezeg

[Photo: Demonstrators in support current civilian government during a demonstration in Khartoum, Sudan on October 21, 2021. Photographer:  Mahmoud Hjaj/AA]