Sudan's army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said on Wednesday that the army will not negotiate with the paramilitary Rapid Support forces and did not fear drones.
He made the remarks after surviving a drone strike targeted at an eastern Sudanese army base during his visit.
In a statement, the military said that the attack by two drones took place in Gebeit, a town in eastern Sudan, after a military graduation ceremony was concluded.
General Burhan, who was attending, was not hurt, according to Lt. Col. Hassan Ibrahim, from the military spokesman's office.
Invitation for talks
Sudan has been torn by war for more than a year between the military and a powerful paramilitary group, the Rapid Support Forces.
The latest strike came after the army-aligned foreign ministry conditionally accepted a US invitation to talks in Switzerland in August. The RSF responded to the ministry's statement on Tuesday saying it would only negotiate with the army.
On Wednesday an RSF official blamed the drone strike on extremist elements.
"The RSF has nothing to do with the drones that targeted Gibeit today...they are the result of internal disagreements," legal adviser Mohamed al-Mukhtar told Reuters.
Previous efforts to mediate the confli ct have failed to secure a lasting ceasefire, and many Sudanese consider the talks in Switzerland as the best opportunity to negotiate an end to the war.
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