Islamist Leader: Al Burhan’s recent decisions are an act of deliberate political targeting

 A prominent leader in the Sudanese Islamic Movement described the decisions to refer a number of officers in the military establishment to retirement as “deliberate political targeting,” arguing that “the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) is subject to external interference aimed at excluding the Islamists.”

The leader shared that these measures “cannot be separated from the attempts to reshape the political and military landscape in Sudan, in a manner that excludes the Islamist currents,” noting that “external parties are seeking to diminish the influence of Islamists within the Sudanese Army, as the former are considered an organized and influential force.”

These statements come in the wake of a series of decisions to retire a number of officers, a development that has sparked widespread controversy in Sudanese political and military circles. Observers believe that these decisions may be linked to the transitional government’s attempts to restructure the Sudanese Army and strengthen civilian control over it, whilst others describe them as having political dimensions that target specific currents.

In this context, analysts point out that the tension between the military establishment and Islamist forces stems from differing positions in regards to the political transformations taking place in Sudan, in addition to international as well as regional pressures seeking to remove the Islamist-affiliated elements from key government positions.