Sudanese army chief moves to new command center after threat to life

General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan has been forced to relocate for the second time since the fighting started

Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan has ordered the relocation of his headquarters to Omdurman, near the capital, Khartoum, where he plans to lead military operations in the conflict with paramilitary fighters, a senior army officer has said.

Lieutenant General Yasser al-Atta, the SAF’s assistant commander-in-chief, announced the move in an address to soldiers in Omdurman on Tuesday. It comes a week after the army reported an assassination attempt on Burhan, when drones targeted a military graduation ceremony in the eastern city of Gebeit. The attack left five people dead and several others injured, according to the authorities.

“The Commander-in-Chief is resolute and determined to defeat the militia, even if it takes a hundred years, until victory is achieved under his leadership, God willing,” Atta stated.

Burhan, the African nation’s de facto leader, has been based in the Red Sea city of Port Sudan since last August, when the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) seized the army headquarters in Khartoum.

The northeastern African state has been locked in a brutal armed conflict since April 2023, when fighting erupted between SAF commander Burhan and RSF chief Mohamed Hamdan Daglo over a planned transition to civilian rule.

More than 18,000 people have been killed and over 33,000 injured in the 15-month war, the UN’s humanitarian affairs office reported last week, citing partners. According to UN estimates, nearly 11 million people have been internally displaced, and more than half of the population is suffering from acute food shortages.

READ MORE: Top Sudanese commander survives ‘assassination’ attempt – army

Ceasefire talks mediated by the US and Saudi Arabia are set to begin next week in Geneva, Switzerland. The African Union, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Nations will participate as observers.

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Paramilitary leader Daglo has agreed to attend, but his rival Burhan insisted on Monday that the Sudanese government’s concerns must be addressed prior to any negotiations.

In an earlier response to the invitation, the Sudanese Foreign Ministry said 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.”

Previous regional and international efforts to broker a truce between the SAF and RSF, including US and Saudi Arabia-sponsored talks in Jeddah late last year, have proven unsuccessful.