Sudan’s top military officer paid a one-day visit to Egypt on Tuesday (August 29th) for talks with the Egyptian president, making his first trip abroad since his country plunged into bitter conflict This year. General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhane, chairman of the Sovereign Council, arrived in the Mediterranean city of El-Alamein and was received at the airport by President Abdel Fattah Al-Sissi, the council said.
The two leaders discussed efforts to end the conflict in Sudan in a way that preserves “the sovereignty and integrity of the Sudanese state”, according to an Egyptian statement. This press release contained only general information on the war. Sudan descended into chaos in mid-April, when simmering tensions between the army, led by Abdel Fattah Al-Burhane, and the powerful paramilitary rapid support forces, commanded by Mohammed Hamdan Daglo, known as “Hemetti”, led to open fighting in Khartoum and elsewhere.
The conflict has turned the capital into an urban battleground, with Rapid Support Forces (RSF) controlling large swaths of the city. The military command, where Abdel Fattah Al-Burhane has reportedly been stationed since April, has been one of the epicenters of the conflict. In televised comments to Egyptian media, the latter accused the RSF of starting the war to seize power in Sudan. “We are facing a destructive war launched by rebel groups (…) who have committed heinous crimes amounting to war crimes,” he said.
Nearly 5 million displaced people
The military has sought to end the conflict and establish a transition period until “free and fair elections” are held, he added. Mr. Al-Burhane was accompanied by the acting foreign minister, Ali Al-Sadiq, General Ahmed Ibrahim Mufadel, head of the General Intelligence Authority, and other army officers. In a statement late Tuesday, Al-Sadiq said that among the “urgent issues” discussed was the movement of people and goods across the Sudan-Egypt border.
More than 4.6 million people have been displaced, according to the UN migration agency. Of these, more than 3.6 million have fled to safer areas inside Sudan and more than a million others have crossed into neighboring countries. More than 285,300 people fled to Egypt.
The FSR did not immediately comment on Abdel Fattah Al-Burhane’s trip. In a statement, the Sovereign Council announced late Tuesday that Mr. Al-Burhane had returned to Port Sudan, the country’s largest coastal city controlled by the army. The general had left the Red Sea city for Egypt earlier in the day. Last week, Mr. Al-Burhane managed to leave the Sudanese army headquarters in Khartoum. He visited military installations in Omdurman, Khartoum’s twin city to the north of the capital.
In several months of fighting, neither side has succeeded in taking control of Khartoum or other key areas of the country. Last week, loud explosions and plumes of black smoke were seen over key areas of the capital, including near its airport.
Worst violence of the conflict in Darfur
Egypt has long-standing ties with the Sudanese military and its top generals. In July, Mr. al-Sisi hosted a meeting of Sudan’s neighbors and announced a ceasefire plan. A series of fragile truces, negotiated by the United States and Saudi Arabia, did not hold. Many residents of Khartoum live without water or electricity, and the country’s health system has nearly collapsed.
The sprawling Darfur region has seen some of the worst violence of the conflict and fighting there has turned into ethnic clashes, with the RSF and allied Arab militias attacking ethnic African communities. Clashes intensified earlier this month in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur province, with both sides using heavy weapons in densely populated areas, according to activists and local media.
On August 22, shellfire hit the Al-Sekka Al-Hadeid neighborhood of Nyala, killing at least 39 civilians, including women and children, according to activist Adam Mousa, media officer for the Bar Association of Darfur, which called on the International Criminal Court to investigate the attack and hold its perpetrators to account. Clashes were also reported in the provinces of South Kordofan and West Kordofan, according to the United Nations.
The fighting has claimed at least 4,000 lives, according to the UN human rights office, but activists and doctors on the ground say the toll is likely much higher. Martin Griffiths, the UN’s head of humanitarian affairs, said on Tuesday the organization had added an additional $20 million to its emergency funding to help meet Sudan’s growing humanitarian needs. This year, a total of $60 million of the fund has been allocated to Sudan, Griffiths said on X (formerly Twitter).
