Sudan Premier survives assassination

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“An explosion hit as Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok’s car was driving by but thank God no one was hurt,” Ali Bakhit, the Prime Minister’s Office Director, said on Monday, March 9.

Members of Hamdok’s office confirmed to Qatari state-funded broadcaster, Al Jazeera, that the Prime Minister had been evacuated to a safe location.

Al Jazeera’s Hiba Morgan, reporting from Sudan capital Khartoum, said the blast targeted the prime minister’s convoy “just as he was heading to his office”.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility by the time of filing this report.

Footage posted online showed two white vehicles used by Sudan’s top officials parked on a street, damaged with their windows broken. Another vehicle was badly damaged in the blast.

A prominent economist, Hamdok was appointed prime minister in August last year after pro-democracy protests forced the military to remove former ruler Omar al-Bashir.

Following months of negotiations, the military and the pro-democracy movement reached a power-sharing deal in August.

The deal established a joint military-civilian, 11-member sovereign council that will govern Sudan for the next three years.

Military generals remain the de facto rulers of the country and have shown little willingness to hand over power to the civilian-led administration.

The prime minister has pledged to work towards ending the country’s economic crisis and establishing peace.

Born in 1956 in south-central Kordofan province, Hamdok has more than 30 years of experience as an economist and senior policy analyst specialising in economic development across Africa