Sudan’s military leader vows to crush RSF

February 17, 2024 (SHENDI River Nile State) – In a defiant address to troops, Sudan’s military leader, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, vowed to continue the fight against the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) until they are “completely defeated.”

Speaking at the 3rd Infantry Division headquarters in Shendi, al-Burhan declared the ongoing conflict a “Battle of Dignity” and pledged that the armed forces “will not abandon their weapons” until the RSF is “eliminated.”

He urged the RSF elements to “resort to the voice of reason” and evacuate the states of Al-Jazirah and Khartoum and the other states in western and southern Sudan, emphasizing that “dialogue is impossible while you kill, plunder, and steal.”

This statement comes a day after the Sudanese army announced strategic progress in Omdurman, claiming to have broken a months-long siege on the Engineers Corps.

The conflict between the army and the RSF began in April 2023, rapidly expanding to engulf Darfur and Kordofan. In December, the RSF took control of Al-Jazeera State.

On February 15, Lieutenant General Shams al-Din Kabashi, Sudan’s Deputy Commander-in-Chief, outlined the military’s conditions for peace with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). He declared that a ceasefire would only go into effect after the RSF fully evacuates residential areas, public facilities, and private firms, and regroups in designated cantonment sites.

Kabashi further emphasized that the political process, including an “intra-Sudanese dialogue encompassing all segments of the political forces without exception,” would only commence after the successful conclusion of these military negotiations.

(ST)