Sudan’s Burhan vows victory over paramilitary RSF, says reconciliation remains possible

ISTANBUL

Chairman of Sudan’s Transitional Sovereignty Council, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, on Thursday pledged victory in the war against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), saying the door to national reconciliation remains open.

“We reassure our people everywhere that victory is coming and that victory will belong to the Sudanese people,” Burhan said in a speech marking the 70th anniversary of Sudan’s independence, as cited by the state news agency SUNA.

“We also affirm that the door to national reconciliation remains open,” he added.

Burhan said the war has unified the Sudanese people and strengthened their national resolve, assuring residents of Darfur and Kordofan regions that victory was approaching.

He also praised political forces that stand by the army, stressing that the door to national reconciliation remains open to all who wish to join.

Sudan has been mired in a raging conflict between the army and the RSF since April 2023, killing thousands of people and displacing millions of others.

The three Kordofan states – North, West, and South – have seen weeks of fierce fighting between the army and the RSF , prompting tens of thousands of people to flee.

Of Sudan’s 18 states, the RSF controls all five states of the Darfur region in the west, except for some northern parts of North Darfur that remain under army control. The army, in turn, holds most areas of the remaining 13 states in the south, north, east, and center, including the capital, Khartoum.