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Profile: Awad Mohamed Ahmed Ibn Auf…Sudan’s Intelligence, Security Figure

Sudanese Defence Minister Awad Mohamed Ahmed Ibn Auf, AFP
Sudanese Defence Minister Awad Mohamed Ahmed Ibn Auf, AFP
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Profile: Awad Mohamed Ahmed Ibn Auf…Sudan’s Intelligence, Security Figure

Sudanese Defence Minister Awad Mohamed Ahmed Ibn Auf, AFP
Sudanese Defence Minister Awad Mohamed Ahmed Ibn Auf, AFP

Sudanese Defence Minister Awad Mohamed Ahmed Ibn Auf, the man behind ex-president Omar al-Bashir step-down from the rule and at the helm of country’s transitional government, was born in the 50s in a rural north Sudan village and is a graduated cadet from the Military Academy in Khartoum.

Before going on to hold a teaching position at the Command & Staff College, he was trained in Egypt. Auf, after joining the army, became an artillery chief. He was later Head of Military Intelligence, and also Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

After his whopping success as chair of the security committee of Eritrean-Sudanese negotiations, Auf was awarded the post of Director of Crisis Management at the Foreign Ministry and the title of Ambassador after retiring from the army in 2010. Growing his diplomatic career, Auf was appointed Consul General of Sudan in Egypt and then represented his country as Ambassador to the Sultanate of Oman.

But it wasn’t long before Auf resumed a role as an army man--a presidential decree appointed the top brass as defense minister in August 2015. Climbing further up the ladder of governance, Auf was assigned to the vice president post, replacing former vice president Bakri Hassan Saleh, all while retaining his post as defense minister.

Auf’s military legacy is credited for revamping the military establishment’s artillery and making the Sudan home to Africa’s longest-reaching missile system.

He also served as Director of the General Secretariat of the Sudanese Socialist Union, the ruling party in the regime of former President Gaafar Nimeiry (1969-1985) and then moved to work as Director of the Foreign Intelligence Service. Auf’s name gained notoriety when a UN fact-finding commission found him complicit in the 2003 Darfur war crimes, which cost the lives of more than 300,000 people and left the region riddled in untold poverty.

It is worth mentioning that Auf was on a May 2007 list of individuals sanctioned by the United States due to his alleged role as a liaison between the Sudanese government and the Janjaweed-staged genocide in the Darfur War.

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Inside Hezbollah’s Kamikaze Drone That Hit Israel's Binyamina

A photo released by the Israeli army spokesperson of the “Sayyad 107” drone.
A photo released by the Israeli army spokesperson of the “Sayyad 107” drone.
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Inside Hezbollah’s Kamikaze Drone That Hit Israel's Binyamina

A photo released by the Israeli army spokesperson of the “Sayyad 107” drone.
A photo released by the Israeli army spokesperson of the “Sayyad 107” drone.

The Israeli security apparatuses are investigating the type of kamikaze drone that Hezbollah used on Sunday evening to hit a Golani Brigade base near Binyamina south of Haifa, killing four soldiers and wounding about 90 others, including 12 soldiers with serious injuries.

Ron Ben-Yishai, a security expert at the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, said that from the limited details currently available, the drone was likely a Sayyad 107 model, a UAV manufactured in Iran and widely used by Hezbollah, which also produces it in large quantities in Lebanon.

“The model’s flight path can be programmed to frequently change altitude and direction, making it difficult to detect and track,” Ben-Yishai said.

“It has a range of up to 100 kilometers (62 miles) and is small, with a very low radar signature compared to larger, metal-made UAVs. Its detection relies on the heat emitted by the engine, which is also challenging to identify via optical means,” he added.

According to the security expert, the military is examining all possibilities, but it's almost certain that the UAV, which hit a critical target and caused many casualties, wasn't only a specialized model but also Hezbollah managed to overwhelm or disrupt the Israeli army’s detection systems by launching a mixed salvo of rockets and two other drones aimed at the Western Galilee.

Ben-Yishai noted that the UAVs continued toward the sea off the northern coast and the Iron Dome system intercepted one.

The Israeli army dispatched fighter jets and combat helicopters to track the remaining UAV, but contact with it was lost, he said.

The expert said it is possible that the UAV was pre-programmed to sharply descend toward the ground or the sea and continue flying at low altitude, exploiting the coastal terrain and then the hills of the coastal plain to evade interceptors.

“Hezbollah has gained considerable experience in operating UAVs over the past year, successfully causing numerous casualties among civilians and primarily IDF soldiers at remote bases,” Ben-Yishai wrote, adding that over half of the drones launched by Hezbollah are intercepted, either by the Israeli army fighter jets sent to engage them or by the Iron Dome and David's Sling systems.

However, he noted, due to the UAV's small size and very weak radar signature, the Iron Dome's fire control radars and the optical sensors on fighter jets and helicopters often lose track of them, especially in hilly areas where radar echoes from the terrain are dominant and misleading.

Ben-Yishai revealed that the Israeli army and defense industries have been trying to find a solution to this issue at least since the current war began, but there is still no effective detection and interception solution.

He said the sophisticated UAVs manufactured by Iran are equipped with inertial navigation systems in addition to satellite navigation, enabling them to stay on course and strike their targets even when faced with GPS jamming.

“This is intended to mislead them, but Iran and Hezbollah sometimes bypass the American GPS jamming by using unique satellite navigation systems developed by Russia or China,” Ben-Yishai said.