SUDAN’S top general declared today that the military was committed to a civilian-led government, even as brutal fighting between his forces and paramilitary fighters derailed hopes for a transition to democratic rule.

In his first speech since the conflict engulfed Sudan nearly a week ago, army chief General Abdel Fattah Burhan pledged the military would prevail and secure the vast African nation’s “safe transition to civilian rule.”

He also agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire with the Rapid Support Force (RSF) opposition on Muslim holiday Eid al-Fitr to mark the end of Ramadan. But there appears to be no pause in the fighting.

But for many Sudanese, General Burhan’s claims of commitment to democracy rang hollow 18 months after he joined forces with his current rival to seize power in a coup that cast aside Sudan’s pro-democracy forces.

He said: “We are confident that we will overcome this ordeal with our training, wisdom and strength,” as he vowed to preserve “the security and unity of the state.”

These comments came as gunshots continued to ring out across the capital Khartoum and heavy smoke billowed over the skyline, forcing mosques to hold mass morning prayers inside to protect worshippers from the intensified fighting. 

This week’s violence has killed at least 413 people and wounded 3,551 others, according to the latest toll from the World Health Organisation. 

Dallia Abdelmoniem, a 37-year-old baker from Khartoum, fled with her family on Thursday after a rocket sliced through her roof. 

“There is no safe place anymore in Khartoum,” she said from her new shelter outside the capital, where she could still hear the howl of artillery and gunfire yesterday.

“Our number one priority is just to stay alive.”

The explosions rocking Khartoum followed frenzied international calls for a holiday cease-fire. But such proposed pauses in the fighting have repeatedly collapsed over the past week.

Both General Burhan and his rival, RSF chief General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, have sought to portray themselves as supporters of democracy. 

They turned against long-time autocrat Omar al-Bashir in 2019 and pushed him out of power amid a popular uprising against his rule. 

Since then, however, the generals have crushed pro-democracy protests and jointly carried out a coup in 2021 that removed a transitional government, entrenching them as Sudan’s most powerful leaders.

The current explosion of violence came after the two generals fell out over an internationally brokered deal with democracy activists  meant to incorporate RSF into the military and eventually lead to civilian rule.