Latest News

Who is combating in Sudan?

Here are some truths about Sudan's. army and the Quick Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group which. have been fighting each other for a year, devastating their. nation, reigniting ethnicallytargeted killings in Darfur and. displacing millions.

The factions, anxious partners in the toppling of President. Omar Hassan al-Bashir in 2019 and the overthrow of a. civilian-led government in 2021, clashed as they completed to. protect their interests in a prepared political shift.

THE ARMY

* Sudan's armed forces, commanded by General Abdel Fattah. al-Burhan, had the advantage on paper at the start of the war. because of their higher troop numbers, their heavy weapons and. fighter jets.

* As an institution, they have been at or close to the. centre of power in Sudan for decades. Burhan - born around 1960. in a town north of Khartoum neighbouring Bashir's home - has. invested his entire profession at the centre of that organization.

* Nevertheless, the militaries have typically outsourced battling. to allied groups in different regions of Sudan - consisting of the. militias that turned into the RSF in Darfur - while structure. up comprehensive economic interests.

* Under Bashir, Burhan served in Darfur, where the. federal government fought to put down a disobedience in violence that had. displaced an estimated 2 million individuals and left 300,000 dead by. 2008. He also developed incorporate the Gulf, helping supply. soldiers to a Saudi-led military union combating in Yemen.

* Burhan stated he was among the military figures who informed. Bashir that he required to step down, quickly emerging afterwards. as Sudan's effective leader.

* In the first days of the war, the army lost ground to the. RSF's more nimble systems across the capital, and then later on in. Darfur and el-Gezira state south of Khartoum.

* Early this year it has gained back some footing, especially. in Omdurman, across the Nile from Khartoum - supported, sources. state, by Iranian-made drones. It has actually also gotten assistance from. foreign powers including neighbouring Egypt and mainly holds. north and eastern Sudan including Port Sudan on the Red Sea.

* Locals have implicated the army of eliminating civilians in. indiscriminate shelling and air strikes in parts of Khartoum and. other areas held by the RSF. The army had largely denied the. allegations.

THE RSF

* The RSF is commanded by the wealthy, one-time militia. leader General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, who is called Hemedti. Experts approximated the force numbered about 100,000 before the. war started, with bases and deployments throughout the nation.

* Hemedti, a school dropout now in his late 40s, began as a. camel trader in Darfur. According to Muhammad Saad, a previous. assistant, he initially took up arms after men attacked his trade. convoy, eliminated about 60 individuals from his extended household and. stole his animals.

* His battling skills were developed when his patriots and. other irregulars allied with the federal government to help quash the. disobedience in Darfur in a project that escalated in 2003. The. militia forces became called the Janjaweed, a term loosely. derived from the Arabic for 'devils on horseback' that showed. their terrifying credibility.

* International Wrongdoer Court district attorneys implicated. federal government officials and Janjaweed leaders - without calling. Hemedti - of genocide and other atrocities.

* In time the RSF grew and in 2017 won authorities. recognition as a military force, with Bashir's support. In. tandem, business interests of Hemedti have actually broadened in gold. mining, infrastructure, animals and other areas.

* His forces have actually proved wily enemies to the army,. capturing a few of their bases and melting away into residential. areas where heavy armour and conventional military methods lose. benefit.

* Citizens, rights groups and U.N. professionals have accused the. RSF and allied militias of committing ethnically-targetted. attacks in Darfur, allegations denied by the RSF.

* Hemedti's crucial ally has actually been the United Arab. Emirates, Sudanese sources, analysts and diplomats state. The UAE. has rejected reports of sending arms shipments to the RSF.

(source: Reuters)