Sudan government says foiled coup attempt linked to Bashir regime

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Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok addressing a cabinet meeting on Tuesday after "failed coup". (AFP)
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Above, Sudan information minister Hamza Baloul in an image grab from Sudan TV announces that the coup attempt was thwarted and those behind it ‘brought under control.’ (Sudan TV/AFP)
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A general view shows Sudanese people and traffic along a street in Khartoum, Sudan. (REUTERS)
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Updated 22 September 2021
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Sudan government says foiled coup attempt linked to Bashir regime

  • Tanks close bridge over Nile in Khartoum
  • Arrested plotters include 21 military officers

JEDDAH: 

Sudan’s transitional government thwarted an attempted Islamist coup on Tuesday by military officers and civilians linked to the regime of ousted dictator Omar Bashir.

 

Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok said the plotters had “made extensive preparations, which were represented by the security breakdown in cities ... blocking of national roads, closure of ports and persistent instigation against the civilian government.”

Information Minister Hamza Baloul said: “Order has been restored and the leaders of the attempted coup, both military and civilian, have been arrested. Authorities were “pursuing supporters of the defunct regime” who took part, he said.

The military said most of those involved, including 21 military officers, had been detained. “The army regained control over the sites that perpetrators sought to seize,” it said. “Searches and investigations are still ongoing for others involved.”

Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, Sudan’s army commander and head of the ruling sovereign council, visited Al Shajara military camp in south Khartoum, where the attempted coup began. “Had it succeeded, the attempt could have had devastating consequences on the unity of the army, security forces, and the country,” he said.

“We want to take this country and hand it over to the public will, to free and fair elections.”

In an address to troops, powerful paramilitary commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo said: “We will not allow a coup to take place. We want real democratic transition through free and fair elections, not like in the past.”

Early on Tuesday morning, military units loyal to the council used tanks to close the Nile bridge connecting Khartoum with Omdurman. A government source said the plotters had tried to take control of state radio in Omdurman. The streets of the capital were calm later on Tuesday, with people moving around normally.

Anti-coup demonstrations broke out in several other cities. At Port Sudan in the east, protesters raised Sudanese flags and chanted “No to military rule” and “No to coup.”

The US, Britain and Norway, which have led Western engagement with Sudan, stressed their support for democratic transition, as did the UN.

Bashir came to power in an Islamist military coup in 1989. He was deposed in 2019, and is in prison in Khartoum awaiting trial over the coup.

He also faces trial by the International Criminal Court on charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide for his persecution of ethnic minority rebels in Darfur.

Under an August 2019 power-sharing deal, Sudan is ruled by a transitional government with both civilian and military representatives, whose job is to oversee a return to full civilian rule.


Explosion occurs at Turkish oil refinery during drills, but no casualties are reported

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Explosion occurs at Turkish oil refinery during drills, but no casualties are reported

ANKARA: An explosion occurred at an oil refinery in northwestern Turkey on Tuesday, an official said, adding the situation was “under control” and there were no reports of any casualties.
Mayor Tahir Buyukakin told private NTV television that the blast occurred at the Turkish Petroleum Refineries company, Tupras, in Izmit provicince during “routine drills.”
A fire was quickly brought under control by the privately owned company’s own emergency crews and no request for help was made, he said.
Video footage from the site showed smoke rising from the refinery.
It was not immediately clear what caused the explosion.

Lebanon media reports strike on residential building south of Beirut

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Lebanon media reports strike on residential building south of Beirut

BEIRUT: Lebanese state media reported a strike on an apartment in the Jiyeh coastal area south of Beirut on Tuesday, more than a month into the Israel-Hezbollah war.
The official National News Agency said “a raid targeted a residential apartment in a building in the town of Jiyeh,” where an AFP correspondent said a large plume of grey smoke covered the area.


Iran says killed eight militants since attack on police in province bordering Pakistan

Updated 38 min 40 sec ago
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Iran says killed eight militants since attack on police in province bordering Pakistan

  • Militants from the Jaish Al-Adl group killed 10 police officers during a raid in Sistan-Baluchistan province on October 26
  • Sistan-Baluchistan, which straddles border with Afghanistan and Pakistan, is one of Iran’s most impoverished provinces

TEHRAN: Iran’s military has killed eight militants in an operation in the restive southeast since a deadly attack last month on a police station, state media reported Tuesday.
Militants from the Pakistan-based Jaish Al-Adl group killed 10 police officers during a raid on October 26 in Sistan-Baluchistan province — one of the deadliest attacks in the region in recent months.
Sistan-Baluchistan, which straddles the border with Afghanistan and Pakistan, is one of Iran’s most impoverished provinces.
It has long been a flashpoint for cross-border attacks by separatists and extremists, opposed to the authorities in Iran.
Revolutionary Guards commander Ahmad Shafahi said “a total of eight terrorists have been killed” since the beginning of operations in the province, according to the official IRNA news agency on Tuesday.
“Fourteen other terrorists have been arrested,” including key figures involved in the attack, he said, adding security forces seized weapons and ammunition.
Shortly after the attack in Taftan county, some 1,200 kilometers (745 miles) southeast of the capital Tehran, a report on the Tasnim news agency said four militants had been killed and four others arrested.
Late on Monday, IRNA quoted Guards ground forces commander Mohammad Pakpour as saying the attackers “were not Iranian,” though he did not specify their nationalities.
In early October, at least six people including police officers were killed in two separate attacks in the province.
Jaish Al-Adl said on Telegram they had carried out the attacks.
Formed in 2012 by Baluch separatists, the group is proscribed as a “terrorist organization” by both Iran and the United States.
 
 


Over 100 patients to be evacuated from Gaza, WHO says

Updated 05 November 2024
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Over 100 patients to be evacuated from Gaza, WHO says

  • The patients will travel in a large convoy on Wednesday via the Kerem Shalom crossing

GENEVA: More than 100 patients including children suffering from trauma injuries and chronic diseases will be evacuated from Gaza on Wednesday in a rare transfer out of the war-ravaged enclave, a World Health Organization official said.
“These are ad hoc measures. What we have requested repeatedly is a sustained medevac (medical evacuation) outside of Gaza,” said Rik Peeperkorn, WHO representative for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, adding that 12,000 people were awaiting transfer.
The patients will travel in a large convoy on Wednesday via the Kerem Shalom crossing with Israel before flying to the United Arab Emirates, he added, and then a portion will travel to Romania.


Iran says two French detainees held in good conditions

Updated 05 November 2024
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Iran says two French detainees held in good conditions

  • In recent years, Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards have arrested dozens of dual nationals and foreigners, mostly on charges related to espionage and security

DUBAI: Two French citizens detained in Iran since May 2022 are in good health and being held in good detention conditions, Iran’s judiciary spokesperson Asghar Jahangir said on Tuesday, according to state media.
Last month, France’s foreign ministry said the conditions that three of its nationals were being held in by Iran were unacceptable.
“According to the relevant authorities, these two people have good conditions in the detention center and are in good health, so any claim regarding their conditions being abnormal is rejected,” Jahangir said.
The spokesperson was referring to Cecile Koehler and Jacques Paris, who he said were arrested on charges of espionage and will have their next court hearing on Nov. 24.
Jahangir did not mention the third French national detained in Iran. French media have disclosed only his first name, Olivier.
In recent years, Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards have arrested dozens of dual nationals and foreigners, mostly on charges related to espionage and security.
Rights groups have accused Iran of trying to extract concessions from other countries through such arrests.