Sudan’s El Burhan defiant after surviving drone strike

The head of the ruling junta, and de facto president of Sudan, Lt Gen Abdelfattah El Burhan has spoken defiantly after he survived an apparent assasination attempt by drone attack at a military passing-out parade in Jebeit (Jubayt) in Red Sea state this morning, in which two of his bodyguards and three military cadets were killed.

The office of the spokesperson for the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) confirm in a statement that “ground-based countermeasures confronted two hostile drones” that targeted the site of the graduation ceremony of army, air, and naval college cadets, confirming that five personnel died in the attack.

Pictures of the event shared by the SAF show El Burhan inspecting cadets at the start of the ceremony. In contrast to the more formally attired senior officers, and the dress uniforms of the cadets, El Burhan is armed with an automatic pistol, dressed in battle fatigues, desert boots, and a tactical ‘bush hat’, and showing no rank insignia, which is standard practice when commanders move around war zones to avoid being targeted.

Amateur video widely shared on social media shows the passing-out parade, which descends into panic as the drones strike.

Addressing the parade after the attack, El Burhan said that he will not lay down his arms “until the country is purged of any rebel and mercenary”, and that he will “continue to crush the terrorist militia of [Rapid Support Forces (RSF) Commander Mohamed ‘Hemedti’] Dagalo and eliminate them… We will not retreat or surrender, and we will not negotiate with any party, no matter how long our battle with the enemy continues…”

Indicating that he welcomes all sincere efforts towards peace, but it must be a peace that preserves the pride and dignity of the Sudanese people; that “any negotiations must be with the government and not the army,” indicating that “the army is not fighting alone in the battle, but with the participation of broad sectors, including the armed struggle movements”.

In a post on X, Pasha Tapiq, advisor to RSF leader Hemedti, places the blame for today’s drone attack on the Islamist El Baraa Ibn Malik Brigade. “The assassination attempt on Burhan in Jabal is an implementation of the threat directed at Burhan by the terrorist El Baraa Brigade in the event that Burhan agrees to send the army delegation to the Geneva negotiations. It is a clear message from the war current within the National Congress and the Islamic Movement led by Ali Karti. We are expected to see liquidations and assassinations within the leaders.”