Sudan Army Chief Appears Armed With Rifle

Sudan Army Chief Appears Armed With Rifle

The Sudanese army has published a video showing its leader, Lt-Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, walking among cheering soldiers at an unknown location in the capital, Khartoum.

This 23-second video published on Wednesday shows Gen Burhan armed with a rifle and a pistol. He is seen clad in a military outfit, shaking hands with cheering soldiers.

“The fighter – Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces – among his soldiers at the field,” the video’s headline reads.

This is the first video of its kind since the ongoing armed conflict began on 15 April between the army and its rival, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). However, in the early days of the fighting, Gen Burhan was seen together with other military leaders commanding soldiers from inside an unknown building in Khartoum.

Both the army chief and his rival RSF commander Gen Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, popularly known as Hemedti, have sought to boost the morale of their respective battling forces.

Hemedti also made a similar appearance at an unknown location in Khartoum. He also recently denied in an audio message that he was killed.

The fighting, which is underpinned by a power struggle between Gen Burhan and Hemedti, has entered its second month, in which more than 800 people have been killed and thousands of others wounded.

BBC/Jide Johnson.