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Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir yesterday decided to a promote a number of army officers to a higher rank, as well as superannuate a limited number of officers.

The move was announced in a statement issued by the Sudanese Armed Forces, which considered the decisions to be “regular practice justified by the law of the Armed Forces and the regulations governing the service and promotion of officers of the armed forces”.

The statement did not elaborate on the number of superannuated officers, or those who had been promoted.

This is not the first time such reshuffles have been made. Al-Bashir has issued decisions to change the leadership and staff of the army in the previous two months, the latest of which was on 26 February. Many decisions were issued to upgrade and superannuate a number of army leaders, including promoting Airborne Observation General Essam Eddine Mubarak Habib Allah to the Minister of State in the Defence Ministry.

These reshuffles came weeks after Al-Bashir issued emergency orders, including banning rallies and protests, regulating foreign exchange transactions, banning fuel trade and distribution outside official channels, and tightening controls on cash and gold flow through ports and crossings.

Since mid-December, Sudan has been witnessing a wave of protests condemning exorbitant prices and calling on Al-Bashir to resign, resulting in dozens of dead and wounded.