Sudan's Leader Vows No Surrender After Attack

Sudan's military leader, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, said that the armed forces will not 'retreat, surrender, or negotiate with rebels,' hours after surviving a drone strike.

Al-Burhan was speaking at Gebeit Army Base to officers who were set to graduate before the drone strike interrupted their graduation ceremony.

"There is nothing that scares us, we do not fear drones," he said.

Despite international calls for negotiations, Al-Burhan insisted that any talks must recognise the efforts and sacrifices of the Sudanese people and their armed forces, assuring that negotiations must respect the Sudanese state and consider its opinion first.

“We all have heard that there are negotiations. We said that we welcome negotiations, but who calls for the negotiations? And they are calling whom? Not only is the army fighting, citizens are fighting, the peace movements are fighting, the entire Sudanese people are fighting, that’s why if there are negotiations, it must consider these people and their opinion. If there are negotiations, it is assumed that it recognises the Sudanese state. This state must be recognized and based on that we can negotiate,” Al-Burhan said.

A statement by the army said the drone attack took place at a graduation ceremony at the Gibeit army base, about 100 km from the army's de facto capital Port Sudan in Sudan's Red Sea state, and that five people were killed.

In response, Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) denied any involvement in the drone attack. An adviser to the RSF leader stated that the paramilitary force was not responsible for the strike.

The drone attack is the latest in a string of such attacks on army locations in recent months, and the closest to Port Sudan.

Over the past two days, drone strikes have hit Kosti, Rabak, and Kenana in Sudan's southern White Nile state, as well as al-Damer, to the north of the capital, according to locals.