By Adel Abdul-Rahim and Bahram Abdel Monim  

KHARTOUM

Sudan on Tuesday replaced several top military commanders, including its army chief-of-staff, according to the official SUNA news agency.  

SUNA reported that General Kamal Abdul-Marouf had been appointed new army chief-of-staff, replacing General Emad Eddin Adawi.  

The army has issued a statement confirming the raft of changes, which it described as “broad”.  

In the statement, army spokesman Ahmed Khalifa al-Shami said a number of officers had been promoted to the rank of general and lieutenant-general.  

Lieutenant-General Ali Mohammed Salem, minister of state at Sudan’s Defense Ministry, was promoted to the rank of general, according to the statement.  

The statement added that Lieutenant-General Hussein Bashir Hamid had been promoted to the rank of general, while also being appointed inspector-general of the Sudanese armed forces.  

“General Abdul Fattah al-Burhan Abdul Rahman has been appointed head of ground forces, while Major-General Salahuddin Abdul Khaliq Saeed was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general and appointed air force chief-of-staff,” the statement read.  

It added: “Major-General Abdullah al-Matiri al-Fardi, meanwhile, was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general and appointed chief-of-staff of naval forces, replacing Fatah al-Rahman Muhiuddin Saleh.”  

Abdul-Marouf, the new army chief-of-staff, was made a general -- and appointed inspector-general of the army -- in mid-2016.  

He had previously served as Sudan’s military attaché in China, as well as non-resident attaché in South Korea, North Korea and Vietnam.