A leaked audio recording attributed to a senior figure in Sudan’s Islamist movement claims that Sudan’s General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan’s army (SAF) is merely a public front while networks linked to the movement continue to influence key political and military decisions behind the scenes.
The recording, reportedly featuring Islamist politician Osman Mohamed Yousif Kibir, was broadcast by Sky News on Sunday and has since circulated widely across social media platforms.
In the audio, Kibir is heard claiming that Burhan did not reach the top of the military hierarchy as an independent commander but was instead advanced by Islamist networks following the fall of former president Omar al-Bashir in 2019.
According to the recording, Burhan was elevated to lead the military council after the resignation of former SAF chief Awad Ibn Auf, in a move aimed at filling the political and military vacuum created by Bashir’s removal from power.
“Burhan had no real weight inside the SAF and was little more than a guard,” Kibir allegedly says in the leaked recording. “We brought him from the beginning to head the military council, to crush the revolutionary masses and restore and consolidate our authority.”
Kibir is a prominent figure within Sudan’s Islamist movement and currently serves as chairman of the Shura Council of the National Congress Party (NCP), the political arm of the movement that ruled Sudan for three decades under Bashir.
The recording further claims that Islamist networks maintain significant influence within the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the country’s broader security institutions. According to the remarks, this influence was built over decades during Bashir’s rule through extensive networks of political loyalty and organizational ties embedded within the state.
The alleged leak suggests that Sudan’s military establishment remains shaped by internal power balances between official commanders within the SAF and entrenched Islamist networks that developed during Bashir’s era.
The authenticity of the recording has not been independently verified, and neither Burhan nor the SAF have publicly responded to the claims.
