Sudan’s Burhan, Hamdok Meet with Senior Military Commanders

 Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Abdalla Hamdok during their meeting with senior army commanders in Khartoum on Monday, April 26, 2021. (AFP)
Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Abdalla Hamdok during their meeting with senior army commanders in Khartoum on Monday, April 26, 2021. (AFP)
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Sudan’s Burhan, Hamdok Meet with Senior Military Commanders

 Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Abdalla Hamdok during their meeting with senior army commanders in Khartoum on Monday, April 26, 2021. (AFP)
Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Abdalla Hamdok during their meeting with senior army commanders in Khartoum on Monday, April 26, 2021. (AFP)

Head of Sudan’s Transitional Sovereign Council Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok held Monday a meeting with senior army commanders at the General Command headquarters in Khartoum.

The ministers of cabinet affairs, defense, finance, foreign affairs and communications and information technology attended the meeting, which was the first between Hamdok and leaders of various military units in the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF).

“This meeting is the beginning of a dialogue that targets developing the military institution in a professional national army all the Sudanese are proud of,” Hamdok noted.

He told a press conference that his visit to the army commanders “came late” but represents an “extension of the partnership between the military and civilian components in this complex transition.”

“The partnership aims at laying the cornerstone for building a firm and stable democratic system.”

The December revolution allowed the Sudanese to implement a national project, the PM said, stressing that one of the most important requirements of the transitional phase is building a unified and professional national army.

Hamdok further viewed the partnership between civilians and the military as an “advanced model” that can set an example for the whole of Africa.



Yemen’s Houthis Move Weapons to Saada to Avoid More US Attacks

A protester carries a mock rocket during a rally in solidarity with the Palestinian people, at Sanaa University, in Sanaa, Yemen, 15 January 2025. (EPA)
A protester carries a mock rocket during a rally in solidarity with the Palestinian people, at Sanaa University, in Sanaa, Yemen, 15 January 2025. (EPA)
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Yemen’s Houthis Move Weapons to Saada to Avoid More US Attacks

A protester carries a mock rocket during a rally in solidarity with the Palestinian people, at Sanaa University, in Sanaa, Yemen, 15 January 2025. (EPA)
A protester carries a mock rocket during a rally in solidarity with the Palestinian people, at Sanaa University, in Sanaa, Yemen, 15 January 2025. (EPA)

The Iran-backed Houthi militias have moved large amounts of their weapons to their main stronghold of Saada in northern Yemen to protect them against US strikes that have intensified on the Amran province in a bid to destroy the militias’ underground arms caches.

Informed Yemeni sources said the Houthis have moved rockets and drones from Amran to Saada in the north, fearing they may be targeted by US strikes.

Western strikes have already destroyed several arms depots.

The US conducted its latest strikes against Houthi positions on Friday, targeting the Harf Sufyan district in northern Amran bordering Saada.

The sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that Houthi “weapons engineers and military maintenance” personnel moved sophisticated rockets and drones and other types of weapons to fortified caches throughout Saada.

The process was carried out in utmost secrecy and in stages to avoid detection, they added.

In Amran, the Houthis carried out a series of kidnappings against the local population, even its own supporters, on suspicion the people were collaborating with the US and Israel.

The US has carried out dozens of attacks on military positions in Harf Sufyan, destroying facilities that have been used to launch attacks against ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

Harf Sufyan is considered the Houthis’ second major stronghold after Saada given its large area that spans around 2,700 square kms. It also borders four other provinces: Hajjah, al-Jawf, Saada and Sanaa.

Moreover, sources in Amran told Asharq Al-Awsat that Harf Sufyan is a major recruitment center for the Houthis, including the forced recruitment of Yemenis.

They revealed that the US strikes in the area dealt the Houthis heavy blows because they directly targeted their military positions, including a drone factory.

The sources suspected that the Americans intensified their strikes on Harf Sufyan after receiving intelligence information that the Houthis had dug tunnels and underground facilities there to hold meetings and recruit new members.