Top Sudanese commander survives ‘assassination’ attempt – army

Drone strikes targeted a military base in the country’s east, where General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan was attending a graduation event

Strikes on a military graduation ceremony in eastern Sudan have left five people dead, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) said on Wednesday. General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the war-torn African nation’s de facto leader and army chief, was attending the event but reportedly survived the assault.

In a statement, the army said two drone strikes targeted its base in Gebeit following a passing-out event for groups of military, air, and navy college students. Several others have sustained minor injuries, it added.

Social media footage shows scores of people running amid the sound of an explosion as soldiers marched in Red Sea State, near the army’s de facto capital, Port Sudan.

The northeastern African state has been embroiled in a brutal armed conflict since April 2023, when fighting erupted between SAF commander Burhan and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) chief Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.

The RSF has allegedly seized eight of Sudan’s 18 state capitals, including the country’s main capital, Khartoum.

بحضور عبد الفتاح البرهان.. اللحظات الأولى للهجوم بمسيرة على حفل تخريج طلاب من كليات حربية في ولاية البحر الأحمر#السودان pic.twitter.com/744W5hW7e0

— التلفزيون العربي (@AlarabyTV) July 31, 2024

The UN says Sudan is experiencing one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises, with nearly 11 million people internally displaced and more than half of the population facing acute hunger as a result of the 15-month war.

More than 18,000 people have been killed and several thousand more injured in the ongoing hostilities, the UN’s humanitarian affairs office recently reported, citing partners.

Wednesday’s attack is the latest in a series of assaults on army locations, and comes just days after paramilitary leader Daglo agreed to attend ceasefire talks in Switzerland next month, mediated by the US and Saudi Arabia.

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On Tuesday, Sudan’s army-aligned government announced that it had accepted an invitation to attend the Geneva peace talks, but with conditions.

“The government made clear that any negotiations before... full withdrawal and an end to expansion [by the RSF] will not be acceptable to the Sudanese people,” the Sudanese Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The military authorities have previously rejected regional and international talks aimed at ending the war, stating that they will not negotiate with the RSF. Earlier this month, SAF assistant commander-in-chief Lieutenant General Yasser al-Atta declared that the army will pursue the “will and decision of the Sudanese people, whose interest lies in the elimination of the RSF.”