The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the African state’s army have been locked in conflict since April 2023
Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commander, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, has declared that the country’s two-year civil war is far from over, despite the state army regaining control of major infrastructure in the capital.
Dagalo’s remarks on Sunday come days after his rival, Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) chief and de facto leader of the African country, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, declared Khartoum “free.” The army recaptured the international airport in the war-torn capital from the RSF last Wednesday, less than a week after it seized control of the presidential palace, which had also been held by militants.
“Yes, in the past few days there was a strategic repositioning of our forces in Omdurman. This was a tactical decision made by the leadership. Yes, we have left Khartoum, but by the will of Allah, we shall return,” the RSF chief said in an Eid al-Adha address.
“We will return stronger, more powerful, and victorious, InshAllah. But let it be known that the war is not over. If they think it is, they are mistaken. The war has only just begun,” he stated.
The RSF and SAF have been battling for control of Sudan since mid-April 2023. The fighting broke out over a plan to transition the country to civilian rule. Death tolls vary. According to a report published last November by London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine researchers, more than 61,000 people were killed in the first 14 months of the violence in Khartoum state, where the fighting began. The non-profit organization Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED) said it had recorded over 28,700 fatalities by the end of November, including over 7,500 civilians killed in direct attacks.
Several attempts to broker a ceasefire between the warring parties have failed. In a speech on Saturday, army chief Burhan reiterated his stance against negotiating with the RSF, vowing that his forces will not retreat until they have finished “crushing the terrorist militia.”
