The most significant threat to date to Bashir’s decades-long reign began in December 2018. Against the backdrop of a deteriorating economy, Sudanese citizens took to the streets to express their discontent. The protests, which were initially about the rising prices and shortages of bread and other commodities and about proposals to discontinue certain subsidies (spurred by IMF recommendations), soon evolved into anti-government demonstrations accompanied by calls for Bashir to step down. During one of the first large protests, held in ʿAṭbarah (Atbara) on December 19, the local headquarters for the NCP was set on fire by demonstrators. Protests were soon