Sudan’s military reported that its top commander, Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, survived a drone attack during a military graduation ceremony in the country’s east, which resulted in the deaths of five people.
The military stated on Wednesday that two drones attacked after the ceremony in Gebeit, a town in eastern Sudan. The attack occurred at the Gibet army base, about 100 kilometers (62 miles) from Port Sudan, the military’s de facto capital in Sudan’s Red Sea state. According to Lt. Col. Hassan Ibrahim from the military spokesman’s office, military chief Burhan, who was present at the ceremony, was not injured.
Sudan has been embroiled in conflict for over a year, with the military fighting the paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). As fighting continues in the capital, Khartoum, the military leadership has primarily operated out of eastern Sudan near the Red Sea coast.
The RSF has not claimed responsibility for the drone attack nor commented on the incident.
This assassination attempt occurred nearly a week after Sudan’s paramilitary leader announced plans to attend ceasefire talks in Switzerland next month, organized by the United States and Saudi Arabia. Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Daglo, head of the RSF, emphasized that the talks would be “a major step” toward achieving peace and stability in Sudan and establishing a new state based on “justice, equality, and federal rule
