Apparent military coup in Sudan places already fragile transition to democracy at risk

Cairo — Sudan's information ministry said on Monday that the country's interim Prime Minister, Abdulla Hamdok, was placed under house arrest as a military coup unfolded in the northeast African nation. After he refused to be a part of the coup, the army detained Hamdok and took him to an unidentified location, the ministry said in a statement cited by the AFP news agency.

Earlier, the ministry said military forces had detained a number of senior Sudanese government figures as the country's main pro-democracy group called on people to take to the streets to counter the apparent coup.

A full military takeover would be a major setback for Sudan, which has grappled with a transition to democracy since long-time autocrat Omar al-Bashir was toppled by mass protests more than two years ago. Sudan has been run for several years by a civilian-military transitional government.