Speech of Lt. Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan on 69th Army Day
Top general promises "victory over the rebellion"
Abdel Fattah Al Burhan, the head of Sudan’s transitional sovereignty council and commander in chief of the armed forces, addressed the Sudanese people in a speech today, saying that Sudan faces the greatest threat in its modern history.
Al Burhan said the survival of the Sudanese state is threatened, but he promised victory and an eventual transition to civilian rule and elections.
Here is the full text of his remarks in translation.
On the occasion of Army Day
In the name of Allah, most Gracious, most merciful.
May peace and blessings be upon his noble Prophet, his family and companions, the most complete prayer and the best salutation.
Our honorable and patient people,
On this day, the 14th of August of last year, in the city of Shendi, we marked the 68th anniversary of your armed forces, and we affirmed at that time that we will continue to give lives and sacrifices for the sake of the security, stability and dignity of this country. At that time, we were not expecting the betrayal and treachery from the leadership of the Rapid Support Forces, tyrannized by greed and thirst for power to the point where this war became imposed on the government, army and the people.
And we were forced to fight in defense of the security and dignity of the Sudanese nation after taking all measures and providing everything that can be offered to prevent it from occurring, and to preserve the lives and blood of our people, which was being stored to build and raise the country and to form a bright present and a glowing future for generations to come.
Dear citizens, on this day, we mark the anniversary of the Sudanization of the leadership of your armed forces on 14th August 1954, with our country facing the largest conspiracy in its modern history, targeting the entity [i.e., survival], identity, heritage, and fate of our people, who have been, since the morning of the 15th of April, facing the worst chapters of terrorism and war crimes at the hands of the traitorous rebel militia Hemedti and his aides, who led the largest operation in this country based on misinformation, lies, deceit, falsification of facts and buying off people, under the banner of institutional falsehood called ‘Rapid Support Forces.’
Their desperate attempts which started since the dawn of change in 2019 continued by taking advantage of the people’s revolution, the glorious December revolution, to advance the militia leader’s special project, which relied on spreading chaos, fabricating security and economic crises, and investing in political tensions to take the country back to an era before the modern state and to reside on the ruins and fragments of the country, its people, and its forces as their own kingdom, under the false slogans of restoring democracy and civil rule.
These false slogans which our people have lived through over the past months, with the looting of property, killing and abusing indiscriminately, raping of women, and committing every crime that can be imagined or come to mind.
How can you bring about democracy by committing war crimes in Khartoum, El Geneina, Kutum, Tawila, Sirba, Sileiya, Menawashi, Kass, and every inch in the country that the rebels have trodden on since their disastrous rebellion?
Our honorable people, we assure you and the whole world that the armed forces will remain the same as it has been throughout its nearly 100 year history, and that we will remain a professional force that stands with the choices of our great people and their legitimate right to a state of law, democracy, and institutions—a state of freedom, peace and justice that the youth of my country dream of, after reaching an agreement in which we avoid all transgressions and mistakes that preceded April 15, 2023 to reach a fair and acceptable political formula for our people that leads the country to elections in which whoever will rule will be chosen on worth and merit.
At that time, you will find your armed forces at your side, and then it will proceed with its sacred national duty in protecting the land and honor and continuing the process of modernization and development, as one unified army free from any distortions that threaten the Sudanese national security in the future.
Honorable citizens, in this regard, I won’t neglect to salute the martyrs of our country at all times and the martyrs of the war to restore our national dignity and resolve this rebellion—a war filled with heroism and sacrifice of your sons and brothers in the armed forces, the police, the general intelligence service and the people who have been recruited and volunteered and answered the call of the nation in all states, mixing their blood with the blood of their brothers in the armed forces, police and security.
We also offer a salutation of honor and admiration to all our people, women and men, old and young, whom this national ordeal has only increased their determination, strength and confidence in their armed forces. And we pledge to you all honorable people to celebrate very soon and with the help of Allah and his blessing, a victory over this disastrous rebellion and to preserve this country and its people and spare it in the future any reckless and adventurous person, and to start and continue together the process of building and rehabilitating what was destroyed by this war, with the will of the Almighty.
Thank you to the neighbors and friends of Sudan who sought and seek with us to restore security and stability to our dear homeland.
Peace be upon you and Allah’s mercy and blessings.