Sudan Army Chief Burhan Appears to Leave Army HQ for First Time

File photo: Sudanese armed forces mark Army Day in Sudan's eastern Gadaref State near the border with Ethiopia on August 14, 2023. (Photo by AFP)
File photo: Sudanese armed forces mark Army Day in Sudan's eastern Gadaref State near the border with Ethiopia on August 14, 2023. (Photo by AFP)
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Sudan Army Chief Burhan Appears to Leave Army HQ for First Time

File photo: Sudanese armed forces mark Army Day in Sudan's eastern Gadaref State near the border with Ethiopia on August 14, 2023. (Photo by AFP)
File photo: Sudanese armed forces mark Army Day in Sudan's eastern Gadaref State near the border with Ethiopia on August 14, 2023. (Photo by AFP)

Sudan's army chief, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, appeared in a video circulated by the army on Thursday outside of the army command compound in Khartoum for the first time since the beginning of a war more than four months ago.
The army has been fighting the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for control of the capital and several major cities since April 15. Attempts to mediate have proven fruitless as diplomats say both sides still believe they can win, Reuters said.
While the RSF has dominated Khartoum and its sister cities on the ground, the army has used airpower to try to dislodge the paramilitary forces from key areas.
The fighting, during which neither side has gained a clear advantage, has inflicted high civilian casualties and displaced millions.
In the video, which the army said was taken in the Wadi Sayidna air force base in Omdurman, across the Nile from the capital, Burhan greeted cheering soldiers.
"The work you are doing should reassure people that the army has men and that Sudan is being protected by the army," he said in the video.
The video appearance comes as the RSF is pressing a multi-day attack on the Armored Corps base in southern Khartoum, the army's only other major base in the capital apart from army command, which the RSF says it is blockading.
It was not clear how Burhan was able to leave Khartoum.
The army also controls bases in the cities of Omdurman and Bahri, including the Wadi Sayidna air force base, which the RSF has tried to attack but it remains well protected.
General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, head of the RSF, has often mocked Burhan for what he termed hiding in a bunker, although Dagalo has only been seen in video once since the beginning of the war, speaking to soldiers outside a house in an unidentified location last month.



Israel Says it Struck Hezbollah Targets in East Lebanon

Smoke rises after Israeli airstrikes in eastern Lebanon. Photo: X
Smoke rises after Israeli airstrikes in eastern Lebanon. Photo: X
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Israel Says it Struck Hezbollah Targets in East Lebanon

Smoke rises after Israeli airstrikes in eastern Lebanon. Photo: X
Smoke rises after Israeli airstrikes in eastern Lebanon. Photo: X

Israel's military said it was striking targets belonging to Hezbollah's Radwan force in eastern Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley on Tuesday, the latest attack despite a ceasefire between Israel and the group.

"Moments ago, Israeli Air Force fighter jets... began numerous strikes on Hezbollah terror targets in the area of Bekaa, Lebanon," it said in a statement. "The military compounds that were struck were used by the Hezbollah terrorist organization for training and exercising terrorists to plan and carry out terrorist attacks against (Israeli) troops and the State of Israel."

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said that ongoing Israeli military strikes in Lebanon were a clear message to Hezbollah, which he said was plotting to rebuild raid capabilities against Israel through its Radwan Force.

Since the US-brokered ceasefire went into effect in November, Hezbollah has almost ended all its military presence along the border with Israel, which is insisting that the group disarms all over Lebanon.

The Hezbollah-Israel war left over 4,000 people dead in Lebanon and caused destruction estimated at $11 billion. In Israel, 127 people, including 80 soldiers, were killed during the war.

Since the ceasefire, Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes on different parts of Lebanon, killing about 250 people and injuring over 600. Israel is also still holding five strategic posts inside Lebanon that it refused to withdraw from earlier this year.