The general Abdel Fatah al Burhanthe top commander of Sudan’s army and the country’s de facto leader, escaped a drone attack on a military base in civil war-torn eastern Sudan.
The army said there were “five dead” after the attack at the Gibbet base, where General Burhan was attending a graduation ceremony for officers. The base is about 100 kilometers from Port Sudan, the city that has become the de facto capital of the government that remains loyal to the military.
“We will not retreat, we will not surrender and we will not negotiate with paramilitary forces”he said after the attack.
Since April 2023, Sudan has been torn by civil war between the military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Force (RSF) of General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, the former deputy of General Burhan.
The US has invited both sides to take part in August negotiations in Geneva with the aim of achieving a ceasefire. On Tuesday, Sudan’s foreign ministry said it “wants more discussions” before responding positively to Washington’s invitation.
Today, Burhan said the army will not lay down its arms “until he clears the country of all conspirators and rebels”.
Thousands of people have been killed since the war – some estimate as high as 150,000 – and more than 10 million are internally displaced. The infrastructure was destroyed and the country is on the brink of famine.
So far no one has claimed responsibility for today’s attack, the first on a base in the Red Sea State, which is home to the army, government and UN. The paramilitaries control most of the capital Khartoum, Al Jazeera State (centre), Darfur (west) and large swaths of Kordofan (south).
Since late June they have pushed south-east and seized military bases in Senar State, tightening the cordon around Port Sudan. In Darfur they are besieging the city of El Fasher, the only capital of the five Darfur States that they do not control so far.
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