CAIRO, August 28. /TASS/. Sudanese Army Commander Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said the military doesn’t plan to make concessions to the country’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and will continue fighting, according to remarks he made at the Flamingo Bay naval base in the city of Port Sudan.
"No agreements or deals. We will not surrender to the rebels and the army will continue to fight until it wins," the commander was quoted as saying by Al Hadath television.
Al-Burhan arrived in Port Sudan to check the combat readiness of military units as well as consult with representatives of the Sudan Sovereignty Council, which he leads. Some cabinet ministers have relocated to the city since the conflict began.
According to Al Hadath, al-Burhan's trip comes as part of his preparations for his first foreign trip since the start of the conflict. According to the television channel’s sources, the commander will travel to one of the neighboring countries immediately after consultations in Port Sudan.
The situation in Sudan escalated amid disagreements between the army chief, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who also heads the ruling Sovereignty Council, and the head of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. The main points of contention between the two military organizations are related to the timeline and methods of forming unified armed forces of Sudan, as well as who should become the commander-in-chief of the army: a career military officer, which is an option supported by al-Burhan, or an elected civilian president, as Dagalo insists. On April 15, armed clashes between the rival military factions erupted near a military base in Merowe and in the capital, Khartoum. According to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, more than 4,000 people have been killed since the start of the hostilities.