The Sudanese military authorities have shut down internet services as well as imposing a total lockdown on the capital, Khartoum, as the country marks the anniversary of the October 25 coup that toppled the transitional government of Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok.

The announcement which was contained in a government bulletin released on Tuesday, also declared a declared an official holiday in all government and private institutions while the authorities deployed reinforcements from the army and police in the central Khartoum area.

The measure was to forestall planned processions against military rule which the country has been facing every week since October 25 last year.

According to a human rights watchdog in the country, Net Blocks, most parts of the capital began experiencing internet disruption very early on Tuesday before the announcement was even made.

“Confirmed: Live metrics show a nation-scale internet disruption in Sudan.

“The incident comes amid planned pro-democracy protests on the first anniversary of the 25 Oct 2021 military coup that seized power from the transitional government,” the watchdog tweeted.

In a statement, the watchdog said the military authorities also closed all roads leading to the Presidential Palace and the General Command of the Army, the headquarters of the military.

“The authorities also announced the closure of all Nile bridges linking the central Khartoum area with the rest of the cities of the state, except for the Soba and Halfaya bridges,” it added.

In the statement published by state-owned news agency, the Khartoum State Security Committee, said it was keen “to protect the participants in peaceful processions and marches that express the will of the youth,” but noted that “the security services is working to save the lives and property of citizens.”

Sudan has been faced with a series of political crises since the coup as the country has not had a formal government with the current military junta led by Lt-Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, facing almost a daily dose of protests by youths and civil society groups opposed to the coup.

His bid to re-form a transitional government have fallen through as civilian movements reject any role for the military in the transitional government with only one demand which is for him to quit and the country returned to democratic rule.

In his first address after the coup, Al-Burhan had promised to “form a government of independent technocrats, achieve the requirements of justice and transition, and form a constitution-drafting commission.”

He also pledged to form an electoral commission, a council of the high judiciary, a constitutional court, and a parliament, and set the end of the month following the coup, last November.

But he has neither fulfilled nor kept to any of the promises he made, which had led to the political and economic situation in the country deteriorating while security has gone out of control in a number of states.