The European Times reported that Sudanese Army Commander Abdel Fattah al-Burhan has cracked down on the popular revolution in the country with the aim of restoring the regime of his predecessor, Omar al-Bashir, and reviving the Islamist movement that dominated the state apparatus for nearly six decades, exploiting the current war as a means to achieve this goal.
The newspaper noted that international mediators from the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and the United States have been trying since the start of the conflict to persuade the army to sit at the negotiating table to secure a ceasefire and find a sustainable political solution, However, Burhan and army leaders, along with their Islamist cadres, regional warlords, militias, and state officials who served under Bashir (and who have close ties to the Sudanese Muslim Brotherhood, designated as a global terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department), have repeatedly rejected all initiatives.
She explained that instead of pursuing peaceful solutions, the military resorted to using national symbols to cloak the conflict, describing it as a “war of dignity,” with false assertions that the Transitional Council is the legitimate successor to Bashir’s rule, claiming the support of the Sudanese people and their sovereign right to shape the country’s future, while insisting that the military is the primary guarantor of Sudan’s future governance.
The newspaper warned that the situation in Sudan poses a regional threat extending east and west, noting that international attention is largely focused on Sudan’s strategic location on the Red Sea and the interests of regional powers, while its ties to armed Islamist groups active in the coast region are neglected.
According to the United Nations, an ISIS network has been operating in Sudan since 2019, managing companies and commercial fronts to transfer funds to the group’s branches in West Africa and the Sahel, and supporting the movements of fighters in North and East Africa.
The newspaper noted that the territory, commercial structures, and armed environments in Sudan provide funding, facilities, and fighters to the Al-Qaeda and ISIS branches, which are currently seeking to consolidate their regional control and establish rear bases across the Sahel and West Africa.
It added that although the interests of Al-Qaeda and ISIS differ from those of the “Burhan clique” in Sudan, their ultimate goals converge; these groups are attempting to establish small spheres of influence in West Africa, while Burhan clings to his state—which political Islam has controlled for decades—determined to remain in power at any cost, while the Sudanese people pay the heaviest price.
