Support from Egypt and the Gulf countries, Russian influence, role of Islamists: Roland Marchal, researcher at the Center for International Research (Sciences Po) looks back on the role played by the various actors in the conflict that broke out in Sudan on Saturday 15 April, between the forces of Abdel Fattah Al-Bourhane, the Sudanese leader, and those of his number two, Mohammed Hamdan Daglo, known as “Hemetti”.
Why did Generals Al-Bourhane and “Hemetti” go to war on Saturday April 15?
Roland Marchal Since the overthrow of Omar Al-Bashir in 2019, Sudan has lived with two very large military forces. On the one hand, the national army (or FAS, Armed Forces of Sudan), led by General Abdel Fattah Al-Bourhane, where many executives are former supporters of Al-Bashir, Islamists. THE FAS are in no way above politics. They are a major player. On the other side are the Rapid Support Forces [RSF] of Mohammed Hamdan Daglo, known as “Hemetti”, the vice-president of the country. These played a key role in the overthrow of Omar Al-Bashir in 2019, which “Hemetti” claims. He kept emphasizing that he himself had played a key role in the overthrow of Al-Bashir and that he is against the Islamists, pointing out that the army is made up of many officers appointed at the time of the ex-president. If he was, at one time, the ally of Al-Bourhane, this union could not last as the interests of the two men were divergent.
Especially since the reintegration of the RSF into the army was announced to be almost impossible because of the numbers of this paramilitary militia. It would be made up of 80,000 to 120,000 men against 140,000 to 250,000 on the side of the FAS – the two camps have recruited enormously in recent months. Integrating them would change the sociological structure of the army, which the FAS do not want to hear about. “The army is ours, not theirs”believe the officers around Al-Bourhane.
What do they mean by that? Should we see a tribal dimension in this conflict?
We have forgotten that in 2019 the uprising began in Ed-Damazin, in southern Sudan, and that then the claims of the peripheral regions were buried. The personalities from Darfur (west of the country) within the government are not very representative. The latter, Minni Minnawi and Gibril Ibrahim belong to the Zaghawa group, who make up a maximum of 20% of the population of Darfur. There is a real problem there. For a certain number of Sudanese, “Hemetti” is therefore the man who represents them.
You have 64.35% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.