Khartoum – Al-Yurae- – Agencies and newspapers – Media outlets reported late this morning about the first contact between the Sudanese army command and the Rapid Support Forces, which are on the verge of a military confrontation in a number of Sudanese cities, and the beginning of a preliminary agreement between them to reduce tension and form a joint military mechanism to discuss de-escalation measures, especially in the cities of Wad Madani and Meroe.
The escalation of counter statements war between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces has upset many internal and external forces and armed movements, fearing security chaos in light of the alert that appeared during the past two days, prompting them to make shuttle moves to contain the crisis.
Three heads of armed movements announced on Thursday efforts between the army and the Rapid Support Forces to end tensions and defuse the security crisis: SLA chief Minni Arko Minawi, JEM head Jibril Ibrahim, and SPLM-N head Malik Agar.
Political circles considered that the firing of the first shot from any party will result in very serious negative repercussions on the country and neighboring countries, and that a military clash between the two sides will give the remnants of the regime of former President Omar al-Bashir the opportunity to jump to power.
The RSF fears the consequences of this scenario and has shown a willingness to respond to mediation efforts to miss the opportunity for the stalkers, and has provided procedural explanations for the deployment of its forces in Meroe and some other cities, with the aim of maintaining Sudan’s security and stability but these explanations were dismissed by the army .
Sources told the Sudanese newspaper “Al-Democrati” Thursday that Saudi Arabia “proposed the withdrawal of the Rapid Support Forces from Meroe, to be addressed later the Egyptian military presence at the Sudanese air base,” in reference to the stationing of Egyptian aircraft at the Meroe base within the exercises “Nile Eagles” conducted by the armies of the two countries, but its stay for a long time gave way to doubts that it can be biased to one party at the expense of another.
Egyptian sources revealed to the London based newspaper “Al-Arab” that “the presence of the planes that were widely raised on social networking sites at the Merowe base is due to military training reasons for cooperation between the armies of the two countries,” expecting their return quickly to Cairo to block attempts to invest them politically in the current crisis.
The same sources stressed Egypt’s permanent non-interference in the Sudanese crisis, because it knows the nature of the gloomy atmosphere, which the remnants of Bashir employ in mobilizing against Cairo to mix cards in Sudan, and get rid of the political forces opposed to it in Sudan.
Bashir’s supporters find in fueling the military conflict an appropriate entry point to undermine the role of the Rapid Support Forces, whose commander, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo (Hemedti), has openly declared his position on them, and is working with the revolutionary forces to establish a democratic civil state free of both remnants and the Brotherhood.
The military build-up of the Rapid Support Forces in the Merowe area came after escalating tension in the relationship with the army, which Bashir’s remnants have been fueling for some time, and in light of the ambitions that are not hidden by the army commander to seize power and not enable civilian forces to do so.
The Sudanese army warned against what it described as the mobilization of the Rapid Support Forces in Khartoum and elsewhere without the approval or coordination of the army leadership, describing it as “violation of the law”.
The Rapid Support Forces said that their presence in Meroe in the northern state came within their presence in the rest of the states and in line with their tasks and duties, which extend to the desert of Darfur, and provided martyrs and wounded to achieve security and tranquility for citizens.
For their part, the Forces of Freedom and Change announced that what Sudan is currently going through is a plan by the remnants of the former regime, aimed at destroying the political process.
The Forces of Freedom and Change held a series of meetings with the aim of strengthening efforts, defusing the crisis, and completing the final political agreement.
The movement stressed that the basis of the crisis is not between the armed forces and the rapid support, but lies in the attempts of the remnants of the former regime to return to power, which may drag the country towards civil war, it said
Who are the Rapid Support Forces?
The Rapid Support Forces were formed from desert tribes on the border between Darfur and the state of Chad and Libya in the so-called (Janjaweed) militias that participated largely in the battles of Darfur on the side of the regime of former President Bashir and are accused of committing most of the war crimes at the time in the region at the beginning of the conflict, many of which are until today
At the time,Bashir regime denied any existence of these militias and disappeared from sight for two years after the entry of UN forces into the Darfur region before reappearing under the name of the Rapid Support Forces, where Bashir regime announced its part of the Sudanese security and intelligence forces
later a law regulating it was approved by the parliament of the Bashir regime and declared its subordination to the Sudanese army, although it retained a separate special commands and other private sources of funding from commercial activities and from gold mining activities that financed its military capabilities
Beginning in 2015, the RSF and the Sudanese military began sending troops to participate in the war in Yemen with Saudi and Emirati forces, allowing Dagalo, also known as Hemedti, to establish ties with Gulf powers.
Analysts estimate the RSF numbers around 100,000 personnel with bases and spread across the country.
In 2017, a law was passed granting the RSF the status of an independent security force.
In April 2019, the RSF participated in the overthrow of Bashir.
That same year, Hemedti signed a power-sharing agreement that made him vice president of the ruling Transitional Sovereignty Council headed by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan..
