By Lucy Adautin
Sudan’s military has confirmed that it’s top commander, Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan survived a drone attack that killed five people during a military graduation ceremony in the eastern part of the country.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the military reported that the attack involved two drones and occurred in Gebeit, a town in eastern Sudan, shortly after the ceremony had concluded. Lt. Col. Hassan Ibrahim, from the military spokesman’s office, assured that Gen. Burhan, who was in attendance, was unharmed.
For over a year, Sudan has been engulfed in a conflict between the military and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a formidable paramilitary group. With ongoing clashes in the capital, Khartoum, the military leadership has been operating primarily out of eastern Sudan, near the Red Sea Coast.
The drone strike comes nearly a week after the paramilitary leader of the RSF, Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, announced his intention to participate in cease-fire talks in Switzerland next month, organized by the United States and Saudi Arabia.
Gen. Dagalo, who lead the RSF in its battle against Sudan’s army, highlighted that these talks could represent “a major step” toward achieving peace and stability in Sudan, and pave the way for a new state founded on “justice, equality, and federal rule”.
