Is Burhan afraid to confront his master al-Sisi? You can't be a leader if you take the knee. At least 72 miners were killed near the Egyptian border, according to Sudan’s Emergency Lawyers group, which blamed Egyptian aircraft. Egypt confirmed an anti-illegal-mining campaign in its Eastern Desert, and that is the same as acknowledgement and taking responsibility for the deadly strike. Burhan ordered an investigation. His government stopped short of blaming Cairo. An inquiry must deliver answers: Where did the strike happen? Who ordered it? Will the findings be published? Sudanese families deserve evidence, justice, and a leader willing to demand accountability—even from his master. If Burhan puts his relationship with al-Sisi above those demands, whose interests is he protecting?

The Mecca Pact is facing its first real test and so far it looks a lot better on paper than it does under fire. Erdogan’s Turkey and Shehbaz Sharif’s Pakistan have agreed to deploy forces and military capabilities to Saudi Arabia under the pact after repeated Houthi attacks on Saudi cities and economic infrastructure. But the mission is being framed around defending Saudi territory and infrastructure rather than sending Turkish and Pakistani troops into Yemen to attack the Houthis directly. Think about that Saudi oil infrastructure has been attacked, Riyadh has faced serious disruption from missiles and drones, and the threat to aviation and Red Sea shipping has intensified while MBS’s new military alliance mobilizes primarily to stand guard The Houthis attack Saudi infrastructure. Saudi Arabia calls its allies. Turkey sends support. Pakistan sends support. But neither Erdogan nor Sharif appears eager to send his soldiers across the border to fight the Houthis directly. So what exactly is the mighty Mecca Pact supposed to demonstrate? MBS wanted collective deterrence. Instead the first major crisis is exposing the limits of what his partners are actually prepared to do. We don’t attack. We only protect. Meanwhile Saudi Arabia is the one absorbing the attacks. Some alliance. Some deterrence. Some Pact.