Sudan's top general has appeared on TV for the first time since the eruption of a deadly power struggle, promising a transition to civilian rule as the US and others made plans to evacuate diplomats and civilians from the deepening violence.
Abdel Fattah al-Burhan spoke in a video message released to mark the Muslim Eid al-Fitr holiday as gunfire continued to rip through the capital Khartoum.
“We are confident that we will overcome this ordeal... allowing us to be entrusted with the safe transition to civilian rule,” he said.
It was his first sighting since violent clashes began last weekend between his troops, who seized power in 2019, and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that he has labelled a “rebellious militia”.
More than 413 people have been killed so far in the latest conflict to engulf Africa’s third largest country, where around a quarter of the population already relies on food aid.
Khartoum was rocked by bombing and shelling and witnesses heard gunfire despite reports of a temporary ceasefire linked to Eid celebrations marking the end of Ramadan.
Soldiers were deployed on foot into some neighbourhoods, apparently indicating that the army was preparing for more clashes.
The US defence secretary Lloyd Austin said the military is preparing “as many options as possible” ahead of a possible evacuation from the US embassy in Sudan but no decisions have been made. Reuters reported yesterday that the United States was sending a large number of additional troops to its base in Djibouti.
Fighting erupted last Saturday between army units loyal to general Burhan and the RSF led by general Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti.
The two generals vying for control are also vying for acceptance by foreign powers, which have expressed support for Sudanese seeking a transition to civilian rule.
Both Burhan and Dagalo have sought to portray themselves as supporters of democracy. In 2019, they turned against long-time autocrat Omar al-Bashir and pushed him out of power amid a popular uprising against his rule.
The German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock said Berlin was preparing for an evacuation “when we have a cease-fire that holds for at least some time.”
Spain has air force planes ready but it’s “not possible to predict” when an evacuation can occur, its foreign minister Jose Manuel Albares said.
“The situation is simply put terrible,” said the Swedish prime minister Ulf Kristersson said. “An evacuation task is risky and complicated.”
Both the military and RSF have a long history of human rights abuses in Sudan. The RSF was born out of the Janjaweed militias, which were accused of widespread atrocities when the government deployed them to put down a rebellion in Sudan’s western Darfur region in the early 2000s.
