Sudan army aims to 'eliminate' RSF, military chief Burhan says

Sudan's Sovereign Council chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said on Friday that the army aims to "completely eliminate" the Rapid Support Forces militia group, days after announcing a general mobilisation of the armed forces.

Burhan made the remarks in a speech broadcast on the Sovereign Council's Facebook page from the city of al-Qutaynah in White Nile State.

The military chief said the army's "one goal" is to eliminate the militia and "cleanse every inch of the homeland".

Days earlier, Burhan had reiterated his rejection of a truce with the RSF unless it disarms, while also urging the Sudanese people to rise against the militia.

However, on Wednesday, the military leader said he was ready to cooperate with the United States and Saudi Arabia to achieve peace, following US President Donald Trump's pledge to work towards ending the conflict.

"We will work with Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and other Middle Eastern partners to get these atrocities to end, while at the same time stabilising Sudan," Trump said on his Truth Social platform, after a meeting in which Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman raised the matter.

For its part, the RSF welcomed the announcement, saying on Telegram that it was preparing a "comprehensive and serious response to these initiatives".

The United Arab Emirates -- which has been widely accused, including by UN experts, of supplying the RSF -- said on Friday it welcomed Trump's new enthusiasm for peace in Sudan.

In September, the Quartet mediation group proposed a plan that included a three-month ceasefire and the exclusion of the current government and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) from the post-conflict political landscape — a condition the army has thus far rejected.

In early November, the RSF announced its acceptance of a humanitarian ceasefire after capturing El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state and the army's last stronghold in the area. However, the UN has since reported massacres, rapes, looting, and mass displacement of El Fasher's residents.

The RSF now controls roughly a third of Sudan, and has in recent weeks intensified attacks on the oil-rich Kordofan region bordering Darfur. The militia has for days been announcing the "imminent liberation" of Babanusa - a town it has besieged since January 2024.

Babanusa is one of the army's last remaining areas of control in West Kordofan state, and forms a key strategic link between western Sudan and the capital, Khartoum.