Dedebit | September 26/2023
Source: PROF.PLO LUMUMBA BEST QUOTES
The Sudanese Army and a paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces were once aligned. The R.S.F. fought on behalf of the Sudanese Army, until its outgrown influence and the ambitions of its leader, Lt. Gen. Mohamed Hamdan, put the two sides in direct confrontation.
The RSF is commanded by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, who currently holds the position of deputy head of Sudan’s ruling sovereign council. Dagalo was born into an impoverished family that settled in Darfur in the 1980s. He dropped out of school in the third grade and made a living trading camels before becoming a Janjaweed leader when the Darfur conflict broke out.
The group evolved from so-called Janjaweed militias, which fought in a conflict in the 2000s in the Darfur region, where they were used by the government of former president Omar al-Bashir to help the army put down a rebellion.
An estimated 2.5 million people were displaced and 300,000 killed in the conflict, mostly non-Arabs.
Over time, the militia grew. It was made into the RSF in 2013, and its forces were used as border guards in particular. In 2015, the RSF along with Sudan’s army began sending troops to fight in the war in Yemen alongside Saudi and Emirati forces.
The army and pro-democracy groups have demanded the RSF’s integration into the regular armed forces. This is the main reason for the war in Sudan. The RSF have resisted any move to integrate them to the regular army, they fear they will lose power.
What do you think is the way forward for Sudan?
