Armed movements join the army and others join the “rapid support”
Armed movements and regional entities announced their joining one of the two parties to the conflict in Sudan, a step that surprised some, who considered that the opposition of these movements and entities to the former regime for decades was for self-interest and not in order to achieve peace or stability in the areas that were fighting in its name.
The army mobilized groups of civilians to fight against its perpetrators, and the “rapid support” said of them: “They are deceived and supportive of the former regime led by President Omar al-Bashir and the Islamists loyal to him.”
According to observers, the announcement of these armed groups joining one of the fighting parties will lead to prolongation of the war and its expansion into new areas, according to the side from which they came. The war is no longer just between the army and the “rapid support”; Because the army sees it as a national war in which everyone must fight on its side, and likewise the “Rapid Support” says that it is “a war against the former regime and its remnants,” to restore the civil democratic transition.
Fighters affiliated with the Sudanese governor of Darfur on August 30, 2023 (AFP)
The prolonged war, its geographical expansion, and the high number of its civilian victims prompted human rights and international organizations to warn of the danger of the continuation of the war, and warned of its transformation into an all-out civil war, which might affect the entire region and not be limited to Sudan alone.
fragile tribal composition
Military expert Salah Abdullah told Asharq Al-Awsat: The fragile tribal structure of Sudanese society, with its different traditions, cultures and dialects, makes control over local communities the share of civil and tribal administrations. And he continued, “If the circle of war widens more, every tribal leader will become the head of a mini-state, and each tribe will have its own militias to defend it. Due to the absence and inability of the government forces to protect the citizen.
Many warn of the evils of civil war, and say that if it breaks out, it cannot be controlled or the number of victims predicted, and it may turn into an ethnic war similar to what happened in Rwanda, and it may lead to the division of the country into tribal cantons.
The armed movements and community and civil entities that declared joining one of the two fighting sides are either movements originally divided from armed movements, or were newly established with the support and encouragement of one of the fighting parties, and the time has come to employ them in the war, which they described as “absurd.”
Observers believe that the declaration of the “Tamazuj Movement”, which is a signatory of the Sudan Peace Agreement in Juba, and the “Sudan Shield” movement in Butana, supporting the “Rapid Support” forces after they were loyal to the army, confirms that they have become a backup gun for fighting that would prolong the war. It contributes to the high number of victims and material and in-kind losses.
The Sudanese army talks about strengthening its forces during the recent period (AFP)
Many locals assert that the participation of these armed groups in the war, and their move to support a party in it, supports the demands called for by the December 2018 revolution, to end the phenomenon of multiplicity of armies, as an urgent national goal, and to build a modern national army that meets the demand for defending sovereignty. Constitution and support for the civil democratic transition.
Movements in neutrality
For its part, the signatory movements of the Sudan Peace Agreement in Juba in October 2020 chose neutrality when the war broke out, namely the “Sudan Liberation Movement” led by the current governor of the Darfur region, Minni Arko Minawi, and the Sudanese “Justice and Equality Movement” led by The current Minister of Finance, Jibril Ibrahim, and a number of other movements.
The decision of neutrality taken by these movements and their call to stop the war did not impress the supporters of the war and supporters of the regime of former President Omar al-Bashir, who accused them of “holding the stick in the middle,” while others considered it positive. Because war is the worst option that can be chosen by people who care about the country and its future, and they said: The wars did not achieve any benefit for Sudan, but they inflicted irreparable damage on it and caused a deep wound in it represented by the secession of southern Sudan and the formation of its independent state. They say: the commitment to neutrality helps in containing the war and the chances of stopping it.
On the other hand, an armed movement that signed the peace agreement, the “Sudan Liberation Movement” led by Mustafa Tambour, announced its joining the army. Its president, Mustafa Tambour, told Asharq Al-Awsat yesterday (Tuesday): The war against the “Rapid Support Forces” requires a clear stance, not a neutral one, regarding the crimes committed by the “Rapid Support Forces” against civilians. He added, “Therefore; Since the beginning of the war, I declared our support for the army.” He continued, “All indications now indicate a sweeping victory for the Sudanese Armed Forces.”
A screenshot from a video distributed by the Rapid Support Forces to its members near the Armored Vehicles Camp, south of Khartoum (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Tambour accused the “rapid support” forces of betraying the army at the moment the fighting broke out in mid-April, describing them as “militias that possess a very large military arsenal and financial resources that exceed the state’s resources, and are linked by external relations and extensions, and funded entities.” And he went on, saying: “But all these privileges will not make it able to withstand our national army, and it has been dismantled and transformed into gangs of armed robbery in less than four months.” He continued, “The main battle is over, and there are only pockets left that are being cleaned.”
The remnants of the former regime started the war
And just as armed movements chose to fight on the side of one of the two parties, the “resistance committees”, which are the youth organizations that led the resistance against the Bashir regime and the October 2021 coup, some of them chose to stand with the army, while others chose to stand on the fence. Some of the symbols of these committees, who participated in the fighting on the side of the army, said that despite their differences with the leadership of the armed forces, they will not stop advocating for the army, which is the same position taken by the supporters of the former regime among the Islamists and the Brotherhood accused of igniting the fuse of war.
For his part, the spokesman for the Arab Socialist Baath Party, Adel Khalafallah, declared in an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat: The elements of the regime of former President Omar al-Bashir were the ones who ignited the war, and that there is tangible evidence confirming this claim, which is represented in the mobilizing discourse that They directed him during the month of Ramadan. He added, “There were great efforts to prevent a clash between the army and the Rapid Support Forces, but the intervention of the Islamists sparked the war.”
However, Khalafallah downplayed the importance of the movements joining one of the fighting parties, and said: “Their joining did not have a tangible impact on the balance of power between the two parties, and this reflects their natural size.”
2023-09-07 07:17:56
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