Coups that were successfully carried through are shown in bold. •
June 1957: One year after
Sudan's independence, a failed coup led by Abdel Rahman Ismail Kabeida sought to seize power from the
civil government.
Jaafar Nimeiry, accused of supporting the coup, was arrested and later reassigned in 1959. •
17 November 1958: A bloodless self-coup, was led by
Prime Minister Abdallah Khalil against the civilian government formed after the
1958 election. It involved Khalil's
National Umma Party, the
People's Democratic Party, and senior army generals,
Ibrahim Abboud and
Ahmad Abd al-Wahab, with the knowledge of the United States and Great Britain. Khalil was subsequently retired on a pension. The conspirators, including Al-Rashid Al-Taher Bakr, faced trials, with some receiving death sentences, marking Sudan's first post-independence military executions. Abd al-Rahman Kabeida, involved in the 1957 coup attempt, was imprisoned until his release after the
October 1964 Revolution. •
25 May 1969: Colonel
Jaafar Nimeiry successfully overthrew the government of President
Ismail al-Azhari. The coup signalled the end of Sudan's second democratic era, and saw the beginning of Nimeiry's
16 year rule. •
19 July 1971: Major
Hashem al Atta, briefly ousted President Jaafar Nimeiry but lacked support. Nimeiry's loyalists counter-couped, reinstating him. Nimeiry then strengthened his rule, diminishing the influence of former
Revolutionary Command Council members by 1975. •
5 September 1975:
Sudanese Communist Party-backed rebel army officers attempted a coup against President Gaafar al-Nimeiry, but loyalist forces quickly crushed the coup. Brigadier
Hassan Hussein Osman, the coup leader, was wounded, court-martialled, and executed. •
2 July 1976: In early 1972, Nimeiry's dialogue with opposition leader
Sharif Hussein al-Hindi failed. In 1976, a coup attempt by
Sadiq al-Mahdi that was led by
Muhammad Nour Saad was met with resistance, leading to a week of intense fighting and civilian casualties. A brief
National Reconciliation followed but ended due to ongoing tensions and disagreements. •
2 February 1977: The
Juba coup, led by 12 ex-
Anyanya Air Force members, aimed to seize
Juba airport but failed. High Executive Council members were arrested, and some sources suggest the group tried to free them from Juba prison. •
6 April 1985: The coup was staged by a group of military officers and led by the Defense Minister and Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief, Field Marshal
Abdel Rahman Swar al-Dahab, against the government of President Gaafar Nimeiry. •
30 June 1989: The
Sudanese Armed Forces overthrew the democratically elected government of Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi and President
Ahmed al-Mirghani. The coup was led by military officer
Omar al-Bashir who took power in its aftermath; he ruled the country for the next 30 years until he was
overthrown in 2019. •
23 April 1990: Allegedly orchestrated by retired officers and junior loyalists, aimed to overthrow the ruling military junta led by Lieutenant General Omar al-Bashir. Loyalist forces quashed the coup, with reported gunfire at key locations. Approximately 30 officers and retired officers were arrested. •
March 1992: The attempt was led by Colonel Ahmed Khaled who was a sympathiser of the
Sudanese Ba'ath Party. The coup was quickly crushed and the leaders of the attempt were imprisoned. •
March and September 2004: The attempt was against the president Omar al-Bashir and his cabinet, inspired by opposition leaders and
Hassan Al-Turabi. It ended with the arrests of army officers over the next few days. A second attempted coup was staged in September 2004. •
10 May 2008: Darfur rebel group
Justice and Equality Movement raided
Khartoum and
Omdurman, killing over 220 people. It was the first time the
Darfur conflict reached the capital, marking a significant escalation in a conflict that had already claimed up to 300,000 lives and displaced 2.5 million since 2003. •
22 November 2012: The coup against president Omar al-Bashir started as an attempt to overthrow the government over serious conflicts, upheavals (mainly the
2011–2013 Sudanese protests) and worsening conditions. 13 were arrested during the coup attempt, according to the media. •
11 April 2019: President Omar al-Bashir was overthrown by the
Sudanese Armed Forces after
popular protests demanded his departure. At that time, the army, led by
Ahmed Awad Ibn Auf, toppled the government and
National Legislature and declared a state of emergency in the country for a period of 3 months, followed by a transitional period of two years before an agreement was reached later. •
21 September 2021: The attempt was against the
Sovereignty Council of Sudan. According to media reports, at least 40 officers were arrested. A government spokesman said they included "remnants of the defunct regime", referring to former officials of President Omar al-Bashir's government, and members of the country's armoured corps. •
25 October 2021: General
Abdel Fattah al-Burhan staged a military coup in Sudan, detaining government officials and dissolving the
Sovereignty Council.
Protests and strikes ensued, leading to negotiations. A 14-point deal in November reinstated Prime Minister
Abdalla Hamdok, but civilian groups rejected it, and Hamdok resigned in January 2022 amid continued protests. •
15 April 2023: Sudan witnessed an armed conflict between rival factions of the military, the Sudanese Armed Forces and the
Rapid Support Forces, with clashes in Khartoum and
Darfur. The
SPLM-N led by
Abdelaziz al-Hilu and other rebel groups joined the war. == See also ==