Sudan army chief Burhan appears to leave army HQ for first time

General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the head of the Sudanese army, made his first public appearance outside of the army command compound in Khartoum since the war’s start more than four months ago in a video distributed by the army on Thursday.

Sudan army chief leave army HQ: Starting from April 15, the army has been in combat with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to gain control of the nation’s capital and several significant cities.

Diplomats report that efforts to mediate have been unsuccessful because both sides still think they can prevail.

The army has attempted to drive the paramilitary forces out of strategic locations while the RSF has ruled Khartoum and its sister cities on the ground.

There have been many civilian losses and millions of displaced people as a result of the war, in which neither side has clearly emerged victorious.

As shown in the video, Burhan greeted soldiers in Omdurman, across the Nile from the city, at the Wadi Sayidna air force facility.

In the video, he stated, “The work you are doing should reassure people that the army has men and that the army is protecting Sudan.”

The RSF is launching a multi-day assault on the Armoured Corps camp in southern Khartoum, the army’s only other significant base outside of army command, which the RSF claims it is blockingading.

How Burhan was able to escape Khartoum was unclear.

The Wadi Sayidna airforce base, which the RSF has attempted to attack but failed, is under the authority of the army as are bases in the cities of Omdurman and Bahri.

Although General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, chief of the RSF, has only seen on film once since the start of the war—speaking to soldiers last month outside a house in an unspecified location—he frequently made fun of Burhan for what he called hiding in a bunker.