# Abdel Fattah al-Burhan **Abdel Fattah al-Burhan** (born 1960) is the commander of Sudan's armed forces and chair of its ruling Transitional Sovereignty Council — [[Sudan]]'s de facto head of state since the military removed [[Omar al-Bashir]] in April 2019. With [[Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo]] as his deputy, he ousted Sudan's civilian government in October 2021; the two turned on each other in April 2023, starting the civil war. The US Treasury sanctioned him on January 16, 2025 for blocking humanitarian access and refusing peace talks. Russia, having armed the [[Rapid Support Forces]] through Wagner, switched toward Burhan in 2024 and offered military aid. In September 2026 Washington withheld his UN General Assembly visa after he rejected a US-proposed 90-day truce. ## See Also - [[Sudan]] · [[Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo]] · [[Rapid Support Forces]] · [[Omar al-Bashir]]