The Sudanese Army denounces the deployment of paramilitaries in Khartoum and warns of “more divisions and tensions”

The warnings from the military come amid internal tensions and the postponement of the formation of the unity government

13 Apr. (EUROPE PRESS) –

The Sudanese Armed Forces have denounced this Thursday the deployment of paramilitaries from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the capital, Khartoum, amid the rise in tensions due to their disagreements over their integration into the security apparatus, that have caused a delay in the formation of the new unity government in the African country.

The spokesman for the Sudanese Army, Nabil Abdalá, has indicated in statements published on the Armed Forces account on the Facebook social network that the deployment has not been approved by the military leadership nor does it have any coordination with the Army.

“This deployment and repositioning of forces violates the tasks and work system of the RSF and clearly violates the law and the orders of the central and state security committees,” he said after the RSF movements, which have also moved to the city of Meroue, in the north of the country.

Upon their arrival in Meroue, Army units surrounded the RSF and demanded their withdrawal from the area, although the paramilitaries refused and the organization later defended that their presence in the area is part of their mission to fight against human trafficking. and drugs, according to the Sudanese news portal Sudan Tribune.

However, Abdalá has warned that if this situation continues “it will inevitably cause more divisions and tensions that could lead to the collapse of security in the country”, given the inability of the authorities to reach an agreement on the integration of the RSF in the Armed Forces.

These differences are part of a power struggle between the leader of the Army and president of the Sovereign Transition Council, Abdelfatá al Burhan, and the leader of the RSF and vice president of this same state body, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, alias ‘Hemedti’.

Finally, Abdalá has reiterated the Army’s commitment to respect the framework agreement for the formation of the unity government and has warned “the political forces” about “the dangers of ignoring the national positions of the Armed Forces.” In this sense, he recalled that the military “sacrifices their lives to guarantee the security and stability of Sudan.”

The framework agreement reached by the parties contemplated the signing of a political declaration on April 1, the pact of a new transitional Constitution on April 6 and the formation of the government on April 11, although none of this has taken place by the differences around the security apparatus.

The formation of the new transitional government aims to get the country out of the crisis in which it was plunged by the October 2021 coup, in which Al Burhan overthrew the then unity prime minister, Abdalá Hamdok.

Hamdok was appointed to the position after a process of dialogue between the military, parties and civil organizations initiated as a result of the overthrow in April 2019 of the regime of Omar Hasan al Bashir with the aim of applying a series of reforms aimed at paving the way for the elections in the African country, still pending.