Sudan military chief survives drone strike but 5 others killed at army base

Sudan's 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’s east.

The military said in a statement on Wednesday that the attack by two drones took place in Gebeit, a town in eastern Sudan, after the ceremony was concluded. A statement by the army said the attack took place at a graduation ceremony at the Gibet army base, about 100 km (62 miles) from the army's de facto capital, Port Sudan, in Sudan's Red Sea state, and that five people were killed. According to Lt. Col. Hassan Ibrahim, from the military spokesman's office, military chief Burhan, who was attending, was not hurt.

Sudan has been torn by war for more than a year between the military and the paramilitary group, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). With fighting in the capital, Khartoum, the military leadership largely operates out of eastern Sudan near the Red Sea Coast.

The RSF has not claimed responsibility for the strike or comment on Tuesday's incident.

The assassination attempt comes nearly a week after Sudan’s paramilitary leader said that he plans to attend ceasefire talks in Switzerland next month arranged by the United States and Saudi Arabia.

Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Daglo, head of the RSF fighting Sudan’s army, emphasised at the time that the talks would become “a major step” toward peace and stability in Sudan and create a new state based on “justice, equality and federal rule.”