Sudan army chief evacuated after strike

PORT SUDAN — Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, general commander of the Sudanese Armed Forces, or SAF, was evacuated after a drone attacked a military base he was visiting in the country's east on Wednesday, casting doubt on recent efforts to bring an end to a 15-month conflict.

The army said five people were killed in a drone attack on a ceremony at the Gibet base, about 100 kilometers from Port Sudan, where the army-aligned government has fled since fighting gripped the capital Khartoum.

Conflict broke out in April last year between SAF and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, led by Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, killing tens of thousands and triggering a major humanitarian crisis.

Burhan could be seen during a live broadcast of the event on Sudanese television, before it was interrupted for about 15 minutes.

According to witnesses Agence France-Presse spoke to over the phone, Burhan managed to leave after the attack.

An adviser to the leader of the RSF, denied that the paramilitary force was responsible for the strike.

Burhan, dressed in combat attire, told soldiers after the strike: "We will not retreat, we will not give up and we will not negotiate with any entity." It was the first attack on a military base in the Red Sea state, where the army, government and the United Nations have all relocated their headquarters.

At the end of June, the paramilitaries announced they had taken control of a base in the capital of Sennar state, in the country's southeast.

The RSF now controls most of the capital Khartoum, the central Al-Jazira state, most of the vast western Darfur region, as well as large parts of Kordofan in the south.

Sixty-five people, mostly children, have been killed there between Saturday and Monday during RSF bombardment, according to a statement from local activist committees.

The conflict has forced more than 11 million people to flee their homes to other parts of the country or abroad, devastated infrastructure and pushed Sudan to the brink of famine.

Sudan's foreign ministry said on Tuesday that it "wants more discussions" before accepting a US invitation for cease-fire talks scheduled for August in Geneva.

Previous rounds of negotiations held in the Saudi coastal city of Jeddah have failed to halt hostilities.

Agencies Via Xinhua