Sudan PM survives assassination attempt after explosion near his convoy

Abdalla Hamdok says he is safe and adds that country's path to change will continue

Sudanese police officers assess the damage after an explosion went off near the Sudanese prime minister's convoy (AP)

Sudan’s prime minister has survived an assassination attempt as he travelled to his office on Monday morning, Sudanese state media has said.

A blast went off close to prime minister Abdalla Hamdok‘s convoy near the northern entrance to Kober bridge in central Khartoum.

It is not yet known who carried out the attack.

A video posted online shows two SUVs, reportedly used by top Sudanese officials, with shattered windows. Another vehicle was also damaged by the explosion.

The prime minister tweeted that the assassination attempt would not stop Sudan’s path towards change.

He wrote: “I would like to assure the people of Sudan that I am safe and in good shape. Rest assured that what happened today will not stand in the way of our transition, instead it is an additional push to the wheel of change in Sudan.”

Khalid Omer, secretary general of the Sudanese Congress Party, wrote on Twitter: “The attempted assassination of prime minister Abdalla Hamdok is the new episode in a series of coup plots against the revolution.”

Mr Hamdok became prime minister last August, four months after the military toppled president Omar al-Bashir in the wake of pro-democracy protests.

Although a joint military and civilian sovereign council is currently governing Sudan, military generals remain its de facto rulers.

Last month, the Sudanese government agreed to hand the country’s former autocratic leader over to the International Criminal Court (ICC) so that he could stand trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity in relation to the Darfur conflict in the 2000s.

The Sudanese transitional government faces pressure to sort out the country’s economic woes, to end the fighting with rebel groups and to deliver on its democratic pledges.

According to the International Monetary Fund, the country faced 60 per cent inflation and a 22.1 per cent unemployment rate last year.

Around 30 per cent of Sudan’s young people, who number more than 20 million, are unemployed, according to the government.

Additional reporting from AP