Tensions persisted for weeks. The rivalry between the two generals after the October 2021 takeover of Sudan erupted in Khartoum on Saturday, April 15, with the sound of explosions and clashes. General Mohamed Hamdan Daghlo’s Rapid Support Forces (FSR), a paramilitary group of ex-militants from Darfur, claims to control the presidential palace in Khartoum.
In the morning, they ensured control of the international airport in the center of the capital, inviting citizens. “Join them to defend the fatherland and the achievements of the revolution”A popular uprising that toppled dictator Omar al-Bashir in 2019.
During the October 2021 regime, military leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhane and FSR boss Mohamed Hamdan Taklo, known as “Hemeti”, appeared together and formed a common front to oust civilians from power. But as time passed, Hemeti did not stop condemning the coup, favoring the civilians – and therefore against the military in the political negotiations – now his dispute with General Burhan prevented any way out of the crisis in Sudan.
On Saturday, the political conflict won out in the streets: in several districts of Khartoum, almost non-stop gunfire and explosions shook residents of the country, long torn by war and banned from the country for years. Witnesses reported fighting near General Burhan’s residence in Khartoum, where no one dared to venture, without any independent source physically able to go there to testify. Both parties claim responsibility for the outbreak of the fire.
“A dangerous and historic turning point”
The FSRs said to themselves “Surprised in the morning by the arrival of a large body of troops who besieged their camp at Sopa”. For its part, the Army responded that the FSR had initiated: “Army fulfills its duty to protect the country”, Army spokesman General Nabil Abdullah assured. According to him, fighting actually broke out in Khartoum when the RSF attacked military bases “In Khartoum and Elsewhere in the Sudan”.
On Thursday, the army had already condemned the deployment “dangerous” Paramilitary in Khartoum and other cities in Sudan “without approval or the slightest coordination with the command of the armed forces”. She pulled back “alarm bell” in front “A dangerous and historic turning point”.
Because for several days, when the citizens and the international community were forced to sign a new postponement of the political agreement to free the country from the impasse – because of the differences between the two generals – the videos did not stop showing. In various areas, the influx of large numbers of armored vehicles and personnel, particularly in Khartoum. The future of paramilitary forces is now a key question in Sudan: a return to democratic transition depends on their integration with regular troops.
If the military doesn’t deny it, it still wants to impose its enlistment conditions and limit their integration over time. General Taglow, he demands a wider content and, above all, his place within the staff. It is this dispute that still holds back the transition demanded by the international community to resume aid to Sudan, one of the world’s poorest countries.
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