Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za

2-minute read
30 July 2023 | 16:45 CAT

The RSF and Arab militias are accused of killing lawyers, human rights monitors, doctors and non-Arab tribal leaders.

“The mark of the 100 days of war within Sudan, has seen more than three thousand civilians killed and over six thousand injured as well as thousands of homes have been destroyed, only in Khartoum,” said Dr Mohammed Ehbab, Member I’d the Sudan Solidarity Movement in South Africa.

The fighting in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, and elsewhere directly resulted from a vicious power fight within the country’s military leadership. The clashes are between the regular army and a paramilitary force called the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The clashes began in the middle of April amid an apparent power between the two main factions of the military regime.

The Sudanese armed forces are loyal to Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the country’s de facto ruler, while the paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a collection of militias, follow the former warlord Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti.

A central cause of tension since the 2019 uprising has been the civilian demand for military oversight and integration of the RSF into the regular armed forces.

Civilians have also called for the handover of lucrative military holdings in agriculture, trade and other industries – a crucial source of power for an army that has often outsourced military action to regional militias.

Listen to the full interview on Your World Today with Mufti Yusuf Moosagie.