Two guards killed as swordsman storms Sudan’s presidential palace

A sword-wielding man killed two Sudanese soldiers on Saturday before being shot dead as he tried to enter the palace where President Omar al-Bashir has his offices. The attacker refused to stop at the presidential palace’s western gate before seizing a gun from one of the guards, killing two of them before being shot dead himself, presidential press secretary Emad Sidahmed said. Bashir and his ministers were not in the palace at the time of the attack, Sidahmed said. The president, who took power in a 1989 Islamist-backed coup, has a separate residence near the military headquarters in Khartoum. Sidahmed said that security forces had already started to investigate the attack.

[He] did not respond to calls to stop and was shot dead. Two soldiers were killed during the attack by someone who seemed to be suffering from a mental illness.

Sudan’s Presidential press secretary Emad Sidahmed

Africa Sudan