After the eruption of violence between the national army and the RSF (Rapid Support Forces) paramilitary group on April the 15th, nations from across the globe rushed to evacuate citizens and embassy staff from the capital city of Khartoum over the weekend. The fighting left 420 confirmed dead, charred tanks on the streets as well as millions of residents sheltering from the violence in a city that is falling further into chaos. This happened despite international and domestic efforts to ensure a ceasefire over the Muslim holiday of Eid. Although an agreement of sorts was signed for the holiday, sporadic clashes continued across much of the capital. Possibly sensing the last opportunity, the American government followed most others despite some earlier hesitation. Special forces units using MH-47 Chinook helicopters swept into Sudan’s battle-stricken capital from a US base in Djibouti, spending just one hour on the ground to bring out fewer than 100 people to bases across Saudi Arabia.
This conflict stems from the attempted transition to civilian rule after the 2019 removal of former President Omar Al-Bashir. The military seized power during a coup ending over 30 years of rule by the former president following weeks of deadly protests attempting to persuade the army to intervene to end the President's reign. However, this was not quite the people’s revolution it claimed to be. After seizing control, the army replaced the government with an institution called the Transitional Military Council (TMC) which seemed to be an extension of the previous regime. In response to the TMC’s brutal repression to the aftershock protests, culminating in the “Khartoum” massacre in which 100 civilians were killed and thousands were injured, abused and sexually assaulted, the country fell back into full scale revolution against another military government.
Finally, the pressure worked and the military blinked. On August 11th of 2019 the military agreed to share power with the organisation that represented the protesters, the Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC). Both sides came to the agreement to share power in a transitional government lasting 39 months after which the leader of the Sovereign council, General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan would step down and the civilian cabinet led by Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok would take full control of the country and initiate elections. This power sharing arrangement for just under 2 years seemed to be successful and the country seemed to be on track in its transition. International partners tied financial aid and debt relief to the democratisation effort and investigations into the crimes of the various previous military governments were announced.
It might not surprise the reader to learn however that in October of 2022 the military again seized power in a violent coup and imprisoned much of the civilian cabinet including PM Abdalla. The military refused to hand over power with the end of the 39 month transitional period looming, partially as they knew they would most likely be caught up in the coming investigations in the military conduct. Despite this clear violation of the civilian government the army did still claim to be on the path to democratisation, simply in their own way.
Here we get to the cause of the most recent conflict. In their push for apparent democratisation, the army attempted to integrate the key paramilitary force the Rapid Response Forces (RSF) under official military control. The RSF had grown increasingly powerful in recent years as the military became reliant on them to fight extremist groups in the north of the country. Their numbers have grown to around 100,000 men and they have seized control of much of the gold wealth of the country as well as extending their influence to neighbouring countries. While it’s unclear who fired the first shot, what is clear is that tensions between the military and the RSF as well as their leaders who had been locked in a political struggle for the past year had risen to the point where both parties were at each other’s throats, in the most literal sense. Fighting has raged around key government buildings, communication sources, and the international airport in Khartoum. The Sudanese military has launched air attacks into civilian areas and both sides continue to engage in fierce street fighting. This has left civilians cowering in their homes, food supplies dwindling and the country on the brink of collapse.
For those frustrated by the lack of quality media coverage from American news institutions, fantastic reporting has been done on the horrors of this conflict by various international media entities. Al Jazeera, Reuters and Amnesty international have excelled in detailed and nuanced coverage of these events from a variety of perspectives for those wishing to learn more.
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