The general climbed the military ladder under Bashir. In February 2019, two months before Bashir’s removal, Burhan became the army’s inspector general. In that capacity he oversaw and coordinated with Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (also called the Janjaweed) — who have been accused of human rights abuses in Darfur and, more recently, against pro-democracy protesters. In one notorious incident in June 2020, over 100 people were killed when the RSF raided a protest camp. Burhan was also in charge of Sudan’s forces, which included the RSF, in the Saudi-led Yemen war.