Drone strike targets eastern Sudanese base during visit by army chief: Witnesses

A drone strike targeted an eastern Sudanese army base during a visit by the army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan on Tuesday, eyewitnesses told Reuters on Wednesday, casting doubt over recent efforts to bring an end to a 15-month civil war.

A statement by the army said the attack took place at a graduation ceremony at the Gibet army base, about 100 kilometers (62 miles) from the army’s de facto capital Port Sudan in Sudan’s Red Sea state, and that five people were killed.

The drone attack is the latest in a string of such attacks on army locations in recent months, and the closest to Port Sudan.

The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, the army’s rival in the war, has not claimed responsibility for any of them, and did not comment on Tuesday’s incident.

The strike comes a day after the army-aligned foreign ministry conditionally accepted a US invitation to talks in Switzerland in August.

The RSF responded to the ministry’s statement saying it would only negotiate with the army and not the Islamists who make up a large part of the civil service.