By RFIPosted on 14-01-2020Modified on 15-01-2020 at 00:41
Five months after the establishment of a civilian government in Sudan, shootings in two bases of the security services in Khartoum caused many fears with the population this January 14 in the afternoon. According to the presidency, it is a mutiny within the intelligence services, in a unit which must be dismantled and whose disgruntled elements have come out to protest on the street.
In Khartoum, the incident raised serious concern. Heavy gunfire took place on January 14, streets were blocked, army soldiers were deployed, and the airport in the Sudanese capital was closed for a few hours.
The Presidency claims that they were soldiers who rejected the financial compensation offered to them as part of their retirement and that negotiations are under way.
A confrontation seems to have taken place between the government forces, the army or the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the intelligence services (NISS). The RSF chief accuses Salah Gosh, former NISS chief and figure of the Omar al-Bashir regime, of being behind this revolt.
Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok wants to be reassuring. On Twitter, he ensures that everything is under control and that the Sudanese armed forces are capable of handling the situation.
This situation stresses the need for the current partnership and the need to push it forward to achieve our higher goals.
We reiterate our faith in the Sudanese armed forces and their ability to contain situations.
New poor relative of the security services
Coming to power last August, the civilian government had promised a reform of all security services, including that of intelligence, a sprawling service, which costs a lot of money and was a former tool of political repression.
Formerly pillar of the regime of Omar el-Bashir with considerable power, this service is today the poor relation of the security services, estimates the researcher Jérôme Tubiana, specialist of Sudan.
On the ground, its elements were gradually replaced by the army and paramilitary RSF militias. But the shootings of January 14 raise fears that such a reform is difficult to carry out.
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