2023-08-29 08:03:05
CAIRO (AP) — Sudan’s top military official will visit Egypt on Tuesday on his first trip abroad since the country plunged into bitter conflict earlier this year, authorities said.
General Abdel-Fattah Burhan, chairman of the country’s ruling Sovereign Council, is expected to meet with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi to discuss the latest developments in Sudan, the council said in a statement.
Sudan descended into chaos in mid-April when simmering tensions between the army, led by Burhan, and the powerful Rapid Support Forces paramilitary militia, led by Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, erupted into open fighting in the capital, Khartoum, and other parts of the country.
The conflict has reduced the capital to an urban battlefield, with large areas under the control of the FAR. The army headquarters, where Burhan has reportedly been stationed since April, has been one of the epicenters of conflict.
On his trip to Egypt, Burhan was accompanied by the acting foreign minister, Ali al-Sadiq; by General Ahmed Ibrahim Mufadel, head of the General Intelligence Authority, and other military officials.
Burhan managed to get out of the headquarters last week. He visited military installations in Omdurman, across from Khartoum, and in other parts of the country. The general traveled to Egypt from the Red Sea coastal city of Port Sudan.
Despite months of fighting, neither side has managed to gain control of Khartoum or other key areas of the country. Powerful explosions might be heard last week and columns of black smoke were seen over key areas of the capital, including the airport.
Egypt has a longstanding relationship with the Sudanese army and its top generals. In July, el-Sissi organized a meeting with Sudan’s neighbors and announced a plan for a ceasefire. But a series of fragile truces, brokered by the United States and Saudi Arabia, have failed.
The fighting is estimated to have claimed the lives of at least 4,000 people, according to the United Nations human rights office, although activists and doctors on the ground say the death toll is probably higher.
More than 4.6 million people have been displaced, according to the UN migration agency, including more than 3.6 million who fled to safer areas within their own country and more than a million who crossed into neighboring countries. .
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