RSF militias, the greatest threat facing Sudan

The absurd position of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) within Sudan’s security architecture raises serious questions on the prospects of democratic transition. However, it should be noted that no matter how the officials justify the existence of these forces, reality brings counter-evidence.

Until the eruption of the war in Sudan, Rapid Support Forces (RSF) leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, aka Hemedti, was deputy to the President of the Sovereign Transitional Council and Commander of the SAF Abdel-Fattah Al-Burhan.

When first established, the RSF was mainly comprised of Janjaweed forces formed by the Sudanese Muslim Brotherhood regime under Al-Bashir to fight in Darfur in western Sudan.

Throughout the Darfur war from 2003 to 2020, the Janjaweed, hailing from Arab pastoral tribes, especially the Abbala (camel herders), committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in a conflict that claimed the lives of 300,000 people and left thousands of women and girls raped and millions of displaced persons and refugees.

Their military creed based on counter-insurgency does not restrain them from extra-judicial killings and atrocities; meanwhile, their greed for easy resources made the leadership of these forces establish a sizeable financial empire outside the state control.

The war between the SAF and RSF broke out when Al-Burhan offered the integration of RSF militia members into the army over two years. Hemedti rejected the offer, suggesting the integration should take place over the course of 10 years.

Hemedti rejected the integration because it strips him of his power. He would not have a political presence if he was not the commander of the RSF, because he is not a tribal leader, nor a trade union leader or political figure.

The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) have adopted the slogan “Unifying the guns” in the war against the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), with a large portion of the Sudanese siding with the army in a conflict that has been gutting the country for six weeks.

The slogan is not a new one in the African continent and the Arab world, however. It was first adopted by Lebanese politicians to express their rejection of the Iran-backed Hizbullah movement, even as the latter justified its breaking ranks with the Lebanese Army because it was “fighting the Israeli occupation of Lebanese land.”

The slogan was then adopted in Yemen, Libya, and a large number of African countries.