PORT SUDAN: Sudan’s de facto ruler General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan ruled out negotiation with paramilitaries after he survived a drone attack on Wednesday in the war-torn country’s east. The army said five people were killed in a drone attack on a ceremony at the Gibet base, where Burhan was overseeing a graduation ceremony.

“We will not retreat, we will not surrender, and we will not negotiate,” Burhan, who appeared unharmed, told troops at the Gibet base after the attack. “We do not fear drones, we only die when God has planned,” said Burhan, dressed in combat attire, at the Gibet base, about 100 km from Port Sudan

where the army-aligned government fled after war broke out with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in April last year. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

The United States has invited both sides to negotiations next month in Geneva, which Sudan’s foreign ministry on Tuesday said must be preceded by “more discussions”. On Wednesday, Burhan ruled out talks with the RSF. Any peace initiative “must recognize, invite and consult the Sudanese state”, he said, referring to his government. “We will not lay down our guns until we clean this country of every conspirator and every rebel,” he vowed.

Already, the war — which Burhan says the army intends to win “with our head high” — has killed tens of thousands of people, with some estimates of up to 150,000, according to US envoy to Sudan Tom Perriello. It has also caused mass human rights violations and triggered the world’s largest displacement crisis, according to the United Nations. Over 10 million people are currently displaced across Sudan, most in areas facing looming famine and worsening humanitarian conditions as fighting spreads.

A video shared on social media and verified by Reuters showed soldiers marching in a graduation ceremony before a whirring sound is heard followed by the sound of an explosion. Another shows a cloud of dust and scores of people running. “We heard sounds of explosions all of a sudden and everyone ran scared,” said one eyewitness, noting that many families of graduating officers were present.

Wednesday’s attack was the first on a military base in Sudan’s eastern Red Sea state, where the army, government and the United Nations have all relocated their headquarters. The RSF controls most of the capital Khartoum, the central Al-Jazira state, nearly the entire vast western Darfur region, as well as large parts of Kordofan in the south. It launched an offensive last month on Sennar state in the country’s southeast, claiming the state capital and displacing more than 130,000 people, according to the UN.

Paramilitaries are also besieging El-Fasher — the capital of North Darfur state and the largest city in the region not yet under the control of the RSF — cutting off food and water to hundreds of thousands of civilians. Sixty-five people, mostly children, have been killed there between Saturday and Monday during RSF bombardment, according to a statement from local activist committees. Both sides have been accused of war crimes, including deliberately targeting civilians and blocking humanitarian aid. – Agencies