Sudan’s army chief, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, has reshuffled the military’s top command, the army said on Monday, in the first major leadership change since the country’s conflict erupted last year.

The move comes a day after several senior officers were dismissed and retired, while others were promoted.

“The Chairman of the Sovereign Council and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, has issued decisions under which a new presidency of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has been formed,” army spokesman Nabil Abdallah said in a statement.

General Mohamed Osman al-Hussein al-Hassan, who has held the post of chief of the general staff since 2019, will remain in his position for a new term.

However, several of his deputies were replaced. The decisions included new appointments for deputy chiefs of staff for logistics, training, administration, and operations, as well as a new head of military intelligence.

Burhan also appointed a new Inspector General, Major General Mutasim Abbas al-Tom Ahmed, filling a post that had been vacant since his predecessor was captured by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on the first day of the war.

New commanders were appointed to lead the air force and air defence forces.

The former air force commander, Lieutenant General al-Tahir Mohamed al-Awad al-Amin, was promoted to the rank of general and retired, the statement said. The European Union had previously placed al-Amin under sanctions, accusing him of responsibility for the “indiscriminate aerial bombardment of densely populated residential areas” during the conflict.