Sudan's new PM dissolves government one day after taking office

Sudanese Prime Minister Kamil Idris has dissolved the country's caretaker government, according to reports from state news agency SUNA.

The news came late on Sunday, just one day after Idris took the oath of office as the country’s first prime minister since a military coup four years ago. 

In April 2023, Sudan plunged into civil war when tensions between the military and the breakaway group the Rapid Support Forces exploded into open warfare in the capital Khartoum and other parts of the country.

In a speech on Sunday, Idris urged countries supporting the RSF to cease “criminal operations”. 

He also vowed to "serve the nation and the Sudanese people with the utmost sincerity and dedication".

Idris did not say when a new government would be appointed. 

Devastation of war

At least 24,000 people have been reported killed, though the number is likely far higher.

More than 14 million have been displaced and forced from their homes, including over 4 million who streamed into neighboring countries.

The war has been marked by atrocities including mass rape and ethnically motivated killings that amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, especially in the western region of Darfur, according to the United Nations and international rights groups.

Famine was announced in at least five locations with the epicenter in the wrecked Darfur region.