KHARTOUM, Sudan

Sudan’s army chief and head of the Sovereignty Council Abdel Fattah al-Burhan embarked on an official visit to Eritrea on Monday.

Al-Burhan – who is accompanied by Foreign Minister Ali al-Sadiq and Lt. Gen. Ahmed Ibrahim Mufaddal, the head of the Sudanese intelligence service – will discuss bilateral ties with Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki, according to a Sovereignty Council statement.

This will be al-Burhan's fourth foreign visit since a war erupted between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in April. He previously visited Egypt, South Sudan and Qatar.

Since the beginning of the war between the RSF and the Sudanese armed forces, thousands have been killed and more than 7 million displaced, especially in Khartoum and Darfur state, according to UN figures.

*Writing by Mahmoud Barakat