CAIRO (AP) 鈥� military said its top commander, Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, survived a drone attack on a military graduation ceremony that killed five people in the country鈥檚 east.
The military said in a statement Wednesday that the attack by two drones took place in Gebeit, a town in eastern Sudan, after the ceremony was concluded. Military chief Burhan, who was attending, was not hurt, according to Lt. Col. Hassan Ibrahim, from the military spokesman's office.
Sudan has been for more than a year between the military and a powerful paramilitary group, the Rapid Support Forces. With fighting in the capital, Khartoum, the military leadership largely operates out of eastern Sudan near the Red Sea Coast.
Videos posted by Al Araby TV shows multiple people running along a dusty road at the time of the drone attack, while other footage showed people at the graduation ceremony apparently looking to the sky as the drone strike hit.
The assassination attempt comes nearly a week after 厂耻诲补苍鈥檚 paramilitary leader said that he plans to attend cease-fire talks in Switzerland next month arranged by the United States and Saudi Arabia.
Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, head of the Rapid Support Forces fighting 厂耻诲补苍鈥檚 army, emphasized at the time that the talks would become 鈥渁 major step鈥� toward peace and stability in Sudan and create a new state based on 鈥渏ustice, equality and federal rule.鈥�
The Sudanese Foreign Ministry on Tuesday responded to the U.S. invitation to the talks in Geneva, saying the military-controlled Sudanese government is prepared to take part but said that any negotiation before implementing the Jeddah Declaration 鈥渨ouldn鈥檛 be acceptable to the Sudanese people.鈥�
The Jeddah Declaration of Commitment to Protect Civilians passed last year meant to end the conflict, but neither side committed to its objectives.
Representatives from the Sudanese Army and the RSF, led by Mohamed Hamadan Dagalo, engaged in brokered by the U.S. and Saudi Arabia in Jeddah, focusing on the delivery of humanitarian aid, achieving ceasefires and paving the way toward a permanent cessation of aggression, among other objectives.
In its Tuesday statement, the Sudanese Foreign Ministry accused the RSF of being the only party that attacks cities, villages and civilians. The military-controlled Sudanese government demanded sanctions to be imposed on 鈥渞ebels to stop their continuous aggression, end their siege on cities, and open roads.鈥�
鈥淭hose taking part in the initiative are the same as the parties who participated in the Jeddah talks, and the topics are identical to what was agreed upon,鈥� the statement read.
The ministry added that the military-led government must be consulted with about the planned agenda for any negotiations and parties taking part, with the provisions in the Jeddah Declaration being the basis of future talks.
鈥淭he Sudanese government requested that a meeting be held with the United States government to create a pathway for peace negotiations in a manner that would benefit Sudanese people,鈥� the Foreign Ministry said.
Cameron Hudson, the former chief of staff to the special envoy to Sudan, the Sudan military government's response is 鈥渇ar more positive and open鈥� than he had anticipated because it opened the door to preliminary talks with the U.S.
鈥淚 can't think of a previous U.S. envoy who had to negotiate as complicated a set of issues and not had access to the country or its people and leadership. An impossible task. U.S. should seize on this and propose side talks with SAF soon,鈥� he said.
The Rapid Support Forces were formed from Janjaweed fighters created under former Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who ruled the country for three decades before being . He is wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of genocide and other crimes during the conflict in Darfur in the 2000s.
More than 4.6 million people have been displaced as a result of the conflict, according to the U.N. migration agency. Those include over 3.6 million who fled to safer areas inside Sudan and more than 1 million others who crossed into neighboring countries. More than 285,300 people have fled to Egypt.
Samy Magdy And Fatma Khaled, The Associated Press
