Sudanese army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan vowed on Saturday to pursue his military campaign against the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), dismissing US pressure for a truce as his forces face chemical weapons allegations and UN findings of war crimes.
Addressing a gathering at Khartoum Stadium, Burhan rejected concessions and brushed aside the dispute over his US entry visa to attend the United Nations General Assembly.
“We do not want a visa to any country, nor do we want their permission, nor do we want anything,” he said.
His dismissal followed efforts by his own diplomats to secure the visa through UN intervention. Sudan’s representative to the United Nations had asked Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to press Washington to issue it.
Reuters reported that two sources said the visa appeared contingent on Burhan accepting a 90-day ceasefire proposed by US adviser Massad Boulos. Washington had not publicly confirmed that connection.
Burhan instead promised to pursue the RSF across territory it controls, including Darfur.
“Our goal is to eliminate this militia, no matter the cost,” he said, according to Sudan Tribune.
The pledge to fight on comes against a record of abuses attributed to the Sudanese Armed Forces and their allies, alongside mounting demands for independent scrutiny of alleged chemical weapons use.
In May 2025, Washington announced that it had determined Sudan’s government used chemical weapons in 2024. That finding triggered sanctions under US chemical and biological weapons legislation.
The United States subsequently announced a second round of sanctions in June 2026. Addressing the Security Council, Boulos accused the army of using chemical weapons and failing to meet Sudan’s obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention.
Sudan’s UN envoy rejected the accusations, saying Washington had not supplied proof. US officials maintained their determination and called for Sudan’s full cooperation with investigations by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
Separately, UN investigators have documented grave abuses by Burhan’s forces.
In its September 2025 report, the UN-mandated Independent International Fact-Finding Mission found that both the army and the RSF deliberately targeted civilians and committed violations amounting to war crimes.
The mission said the army and its allies killed dozens of people from Kanabi communities in Gezira after recapturing territory in January 2025, forcing most residents to flee. It also implicated army personnel and allied forces in sexualised torture in detention.
The report found extensive crimes by the RSF, including crimes against humanity, underscoring the need for accountability across the conflict.
The army-aligned authorities have also refused to grant the UN mission access to Sudan. This month, mission chairman Mohamed Chande Othman dismissed their justification as weak and said investigators were ready to examine credible allegations concerning the army’s alleged chemical weapons programme.
Those remarks signalled readiness to investigate; they did not constitute a UN determination that chemical weapons had been used.
At Saturday’s gathering, Burhan praised front-line troops and young people supporting the military campaign on social media, promising that the leadership would not back down.
His message offered no shift towards the proposed pause in a war that has devastated civilian communities since April 2023. Instead, the army chief reaffirmed his pursuit of military victory, even as allegations against his forces deepen demands for scrutiny and accountability.
