Al-Burhan… (Courage of a Leader)…!!!

Report: Sudanese Echoes

A few hours after the (Omdurman massacre) incident, President of the Transitional Sovereignty Council (TSC), the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, General Abdel-Fattah Al-Burhan, rushed to inspect the citizens at the site of the massacre carried out by the militia’s artillery, which claimed the lives of dozens of citizens and children, in a deliberate and intentional bombing, not random, that the terrorist (Al-Dagalo) militia has continued to commit against citizens, and is carrying out with premeditation and malice aforethought against citizens. Thousands of citizens in Karari, Omdurman, El-Fashir and other areas have been victims of the militia’s continuous artillery shelling since the outbreak of the war in April 2023. The plan proposed by the militia commanders is to follow a (scorched earth) policy with any place where citizens are present.

 

Recklessness or Courage

 

Well… What caught my attention most about Al-Burhan’s visit to the scene of the incident was the gathering of citizens, who rushed spontaneously and did not care much about the objections of Al-Burhan’s body-guard, who seems to suffer the most from such visits to dangerous and inflamed areas, or what are called in military custom areas of severe inflammation and are classified as red areas that he should avoid, as the forces in any battle do not sacrifice the commander, considering his presence a symbol of continuity in any battle or war, and perhaps it is interpreted in the custom of others as reckless behavior. So what Al-Burhan is doing, in paying visits that surprise his enemies before his friends, recklessness or courage to stabilize the forces, show that the commander is close to his soldiers in the field and know what they are facing, as this is what prompted many of his soldiers to prefer him over other military commanders and they always describe him as the (Cuban) man for dealing with them without the known military protocol or hierarchy. Perhaps the last hypothesis is the closest due to the known personal character of Al-Burhan, according to those close to him from his family or from his contemporaries in the armed forces.

 

(The Sniper)

 

Perhaps the most prominent military characteristic that distinguishes Al-Burhan from other commanders is that he is distinguished by his shooting accuracy when using any type of weapon, whether a Kalashnikov, an MP5, a GM3, or a pistol.

Maybe this feature is what saved him in the moments of war and caused his survival in the first moments of the war, when the militia forces led by their commander Hemeidti stormed his residence in his house next to the General Command of the Armed Forces.

 

Reuters reported amazing stories about Al-Burhan’s courage in the first hours of the Sudan war when the militia tried to storm his residence. Suddenly, and by surprise, the militia broke the wall separating Hemeidti’s house from Al-Burhan’s with a loader, and began attacking his personal guards and sought to kill Al-Burhan himself. Hemeidti’s first plan was to assassinate Al-Burhan and then control the country. However, he was surprised by the indescribable courage documented by 30 of Al-Burhan’s personal guards, and Al-Burhan himself documented it by carrying a Kalashnikov rifle defending with his personal guards and repelling the first shock of Hemeidti’s attack inside his house. The (30) personal protection personnel bravely threw themselves in the face of the bullets in sacrifice for the leader and were martyred while doing so. He, in turn, did not stand by and watch, but carried his machine gun and began sniping the enemy.

 

According to Reuters, members of his personal guard confirmed that Al-Burhan stood with bullets flying from every direction towards him, standing steadfast and proud. It seems that he is not afraid of death, which instilled an indescribable spirit among his crew members, who preferred death so that the leader could live. Al-Burhan was later forced, after more than 4 hours of direct confrontations with the enemy, to withdraw after pressure from the guard crew, so he retreated to the General Command Headquarters.

 

Exiting the General Command

 

Al-Burhan left the General Command of the Armed Forces in the first months of the war in August, despite the fact that it was surrounded by very large militia forces and their snipers. Al-Burhan left in a bold military operation and penetrated their defenses. Many accounts have been reported about how he left the command, including that he left by boats on the Nile, or that he left by helicopter, or that he left in a military convoy by land and sea, penetrating the enemy’s defenses until he reached the Halfaya Bridge and then to Omdurman. It seems that Al-Burhan’s exit falls under the category of military secrets because it has not been disclosed to the media to this day. His exit was a victory and hope for his forces and the Sudanese.

 

(Machine gun and bomb)

 

It is not far from mind that Al-Burhan appeared while chairing a military meeting during the first days of the war at the army command and control center in central Khartoum. He appeared carrying a machine gun, a pistol and a hand grenade, and the army published a video clip on Facebook, in which Al-Burhan appeared while greeting a number of officers before sitting to chair a meeting of the army commandership while carrying those weapons. He appeared in his military field uniform as if he was coming from the field on the front lines, and many then tended to believe this approach..

 

After that, Al-Burhan appeared in succession in the theaters of heated operations in Sennar, Khartoum, Bahri, Shendi (near the refinery) and Singa immediately after its liberation. He appeared as a commander roaming freely among the theaters of heated operations and even in areas exposed to suicide drones in Atbara, the North and all the states of Sudan. Perhaps this is what distinguishes Al-Burhan from the commander of the rebellion, if he is alive, who used to boast that he is a knight and does not fear battle, but he only appeared in audio recordings and recorded videos. He did not appear for a single day in the theater of operations, unlike the pictures and videos of artificial intelligence that are created for him. It seems clear even to the ordinary citizen that they are fabricated and not real.

 

Assassination attempt by drones

 

Not far from the mind is the attempt to assassinate Al-Burhan by drones on July 31, 2024 in the city of Jebeit during a graduation ceremony for the 68th batch of the Military College. Although everyone tried to protect themselves the moment the suicide drone arrived, the live broadcast video unveiled during that moment an amazing emotional stability on the part of Al-Burhan, who did not budge, but went further by checking on those around him from military commanders, officers and non-commissioned officers, and continued to be present He was at the same exposed scene and did not leave the place until the wounded were treated.

 

The BBC described the scene, saying that Al-Burhan was wearing a fighter’s uniform and a camouflage hat, not the officers’ uniform studded with stars and decorated with medals. About half an hour after the start of the celebration, during the military parade of the graduating officers, the participants, including civilians, were surprised by the attack of two drones on the place. An eyewitness told the BBC that they heard a loud sound before a strange object fell at the celebration site and explode. We later learned that it was a drone. Then another drone fell near the platform where Al-Burhan was present, who did not blink an eye. That assassination attempt resulted in the killing of five people and the injury of others. Military sources told the BBC that among the dead and injured was a colonel, non-commissioned officers, soldiers and civilians.

 

That scene was added to the record and stories that tell of the leader’s courage. Perhaps the strange nature of the Sudanese people is that they prefer a brave leader who visits them and checks on them in their troubles and on their streets, comforts them in their sorrows and congratulates them on their joys, over a leader or president who appears to them hiding behind screens.