Sudan's Burhan shakes up army, tightens control

19/8/2025 6:21

Sudan's army chief appointed a raft of new senior officers on Monday in a reshuffle that strengthened his hold on the military as he consolidates control

of central and eastern regions and fights fierce battles in the west.



Sudan's army, which controls the government, is fighting a more than two-year civil war with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, its former partners in power, that has created the world's largest humanitarian crisis.



General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan made new appointments to the Joint Chiefs of Staff a day after announcing the retirement of several long-serving officers, some of whom have gained a measure of fame over the past two years.



Burhan, who serves as Sudan's internationally recognised head of state, kept the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mohamed Othman al-Hussein, but appointed a new inspector general and a new head of the air force.



Another decree from Burhan on Sunday brought all the other armed groups fighting alongside the army - including former Darfur rebels, Islamist brigades, civilians who joined the war effort and tribal militias - under his control.