Sudan’s military says its top commander survived a drone strike that killed 5 at an army ceremony

CAIRO (AP) — Sudan’s military said its top commander, Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, survived a drone attack on a military graduation ceremony that killed five people in the country’s east.

The military said in a statement Wednesday that the attack by two drones took place in Gebeit, a town in eastern Sudan, after the ceremony was concluded. Military chief Burhan, who was attending, was not hurt, according to Lt. Col. Hassan Ibrahim, from the military spokesman’s office.

Sudan has been torn by war for more than a year between the military and a powerful paramilitary group, the Rapid Support Forces. With fighting in the capital, Khartoum, the military leadership largely operates out of eastern Sudan near the Red Sea Coast.

The assassination attempt comes nearly a week after Sudan’s paramilitary leader said that he plans to attend cease-fire talks in Switzerland next month arranged by the United States and Saudi Arabia.

Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, head of the Rapid Support Forces fighting Sudan’s army, emphasized at the time that the talks would become “a major step” toward peace and stability in Sudan and create a new state based on “justice, equality and federal rule.”

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