Al-Burhan: The armed forces will not abandon their weapons until they eliminate the rebels (Al-Jazeera)
The head of the Transitional Sovereignty Council and Commander-in-Chief of the Sudanese Army, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, said on Saturday that the army would not give up weapons until after eliminating what he described as rebels, in reference to the Rapid Support Forces.
This came during a speech by Al-Burhan before the officers and soldiers of the 3rd Infantry Division in the city of Shendi in the Nile River State (north), according to a statement from the Sudanese army.
Al-Burhan added, "The battle for dignity will continue until the Rapid Support rebellion and those who helped them are defeated," because those who kill, plunder and steal have no room to talk to them until after the battle ends, as he put it.
Al-Burhan called on the Rapid Support Forces to resort to the voice of reason and leave the states of Al-Jazira and Khartoum.
On Friday, the Sudanese army announced the success of the first phase of the plan to eliminate the Rapid Support Forces in the city of Omdurman, west of the capital, Khartoum, but these forces denied this, and said that the army had turned to “propaganda and is on the verge of defeat.”
The army's movements and Al-Burhan's statements come after negotiations sponsored by Saudi Arabia and the United States in the city of Jeddah during the recent period, between the army and the Rapid Support, were unable to achieve a breakthrough that would lead to stopping the war.
African efforts led by the Intergovernmental Authority for Development in East Africa (IGAD) did not succeed in bringing Al-Burhan together with the commander of the Rapid Support Forces, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo “Hemedti”, in preparation for a ceasefire and the delivery of aid.
Since mid-April 2023, the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces have been fighting a war that has left more than 13,000 dead and more than 7 million displaced and refugees, according to the United Nations.
Source: Al Jazeera + agencies