Sudan’s fragile transition to democracy will not succeed unless the military submits to civilian command and integrates rival security forces into its ranks, yet generals refuse to give up power, say analysts and activists. 

Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok raised the subject after the military foiled a coup by dissenting officers Sept. 21. Abdel Fatah al-Burhan, head of the military and chairman of the Sovereign Council that is leading the transition, replied that civilian leaders were ungrateful for the army’s role in protecting the path to democracy.

On Sept. 26, Burhan tried to prove that the army was indispensable by ordering his troops to withdraw from protecting the headquarters of a committee tasked with recovering billions of dollars worth of stolen assets and dismantling networks of the former regime. The army also removed the personal protection of committee leader Mohamed al-Faki Sulieman.

Two days later, an Islamic State terrorist cell killed five counterterrorism officers, an incident that vindicated Burhan’s view that the democratic transition needs the army’s protection.