Sudanese army chief vows to fight RSF 'until the last man'

Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan makes first public comments since he leaving the capital Khartoum on Thursday

Sudan's army chief Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan at a military airport in Port Sudan. He visited troops in the city. Reuters

Sudan's military chief vowed on Monday to carry on the fight against the rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, with the country gripped by conflict since April.

Making his first public comments since leaving the Sudanese capital Khartoum on Thursday, Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan said the Sudanese people stood by the army.

He denied speculation that his exit from the city was arranged with the RSF.

The RSF repeatedly claimed Gen Al Burhan was besieged in a section of the armed forces' headquarters in central Khartoum.

The paramilitary group is known to be in control of most of the sprawling complex, in addition to the city's airport and Republican Palace.

Last Thursday, Gen Al Burhan made an unexpected public appearance across the Nile in Omdurman, one of three cities that make up the greater Khartoum area.

He later went to an airbase in Wad Seidna, which had been the target of repeated RSF attacks.

Gen Al Burhan then flew to the city of Atbara, north of the capital, where he greeted troops at an artillery base. He few to Port Sudan aboard a military transport aircraft.

"We will fight, we will fight, we will fight until the last man standing,” he told troops at a naval base in Port Sudan, a Red Sea city under the army's control.

“This war will end with the victory of the armed forces and we will later have things to say."

He described the RSF as mercenaries, treasonous and the enemy, emphasising the divisions between the two sides as the international community calls for peace.

Sudan's war is essentially a fight for political and military control between Gen Al Burhan and his one-time deputy and ally Gen Mohamed Dagalo, who leads the RSF.

Neither side has been able to gain an advantage after four months of conflict.

The fighting has created a major humanitarian crisis and forced more than four million Sudanese to flee their homes.

Those trapped in Khartoum, the main theatre of operations, are contending with power and water shortages, a lack of health care and rocketing food and fuel prices.

The war has spread to the Darfur region, where the RSF and allied Arab militias have carried out fierce attacks against ethnic African communities.

Such violence has raised the spectre of the civil war in the region in the 2000s, when the RSF's forerunner, the Janjaweed militia, was accused of genocide.

The International Criminal Court has said it is investigating possible war crimes in the current fighting by the RSF, which is also accused of looting and gender-based crimes such as sexual assault.

Gen Al Burhan's comments on Monday appeared to reject a statement from Gen Dagalo on Sunday night, which purported to commit to a political process to find peace.

Gen Dagalo said ideas including creating a federal and multicultural Sudan, holding democratic elections and establishing a single army that encompasses all armed groups, were possible.

His statement suggested he was willing to negotiate with the army over the shape of the future Sudanese state, going beyond the technicalities of a permanent ceasefire that have hindered mediation efforts led by Saudi Arabia and the US.

“Efforts to end the protracted crisis must be directed towards achieving a lasting ceasefire, coupled with comprehensive political solutions that address the root causes of Sudan's wars,” he said in the statement.

Gen Dagalo's comments echoed the RSF's insistence that it is a pro-democracy force fighting against army generals clinging to power and backed by allies, including those loyal to Sudan's former leader Omar Al Bashir.

But critics say the RSF is a lawless force that adheres to violent methods carried out by the Janjaweed in Darfur.

The army is also accused of using heavy artillery and air strikes against the RSF in Khartoum, causing hundreds of civilian casualties.

Gen Al Burhan and Gen Dagalo jointly staged a military takeover in 2021 that derailed Sudan's democratic transition and led to political and security crises.

Security forces killed more than a 100 pro-democracy protesters and wounded thousands in the months that followed the takeover.

Gen Al Burhan has repeatedly promised to investigate the killings, as well as sexual assaults allegedly committed by security forces, and bring those responsible to justice.

No findings or progress reports have been released.