Sudan (MNN) — Sudan’s transitional government survived a coup attempt this week. Members of the military tried and failed to take over the state media building. Several soldiers and officers were arrested.
The country saw many other signs of unrest as well. Soldiers blocked one prominent bridge over the Nile River, and gunfire rang out in several places. This isn’t the first attempted coup Sudan has suffered in recent years.
Government officials blamed supporters of the former dictator of Sudan, Omar al-Bashir. But Todd Nettleton of The Voice of the Martyrs USA says, “The chairman right now of the Sovereignty Council is a member of the military. So how much more control do they want? How much more control could they have? It raises a lot of questions about what the coup organizers wanted. Because the military still has a great deal of influence and a great deal of control within the country.”
Bashir’s fall came largely through a popular uprising, Nettleton says. “People were marching in the streets all across Sudan saying, ‘we don’t want a dictator anymore. We don’t want Bashir anymore. He was subsequently arrested. In fact, they are talking now about sending him on to the International Criminal Court to stand trial for some of the things that he did while he was in power.”
Future challenges
Nettleton says the transitional government, and Sudan’s people, still have many challenges in front of them. “Will there actually be elections, will there actually be a transition to a civilian government? And in the meantime, the Sudanese economy is just in shambles. The inflation rate there is out of control.”
Pray for peace and stability in Sudan. And ask God to bless the efforts of Sudanese Christians. Nettleton says, “I have heard from Christians working in the country that they really see this time of transition as an open window for ministry, an open window for outreach. And they’re trying to go 100 mph while it’s open.”
The header photo shows the bridge over the Nile River at Omdurman, which military personal shut down briefly during the coup attempt.
