The Sudanese coalition led by the Paramilitary Rapid Support Forces announced have announced that their members have formed a parallel government, a move opposed by the Sudan National Army which has been rival in a 27-month war that could drive the country further towards partition.
The Rapid Support Forces leader Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo was announced the Head of the Presidential Council, while Abdel Aziz al-Hilu, the Head of the SPLM-N, one of the country’s largest rebel groups, was made his deputy on a 15-member Council.
The same Council named Mohamed Hassan al-Taishi, a civilian politician, the Prime Minister and regional governors were announced in a press conference from Nyala, the largest city in the Darfur region which the Rapid Support Forces control.
The Sudanese army has pushed the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces out of the center of the country, while deadly fighting rages over the center-west Kordofan region and Darfur’s traditional capital of al-Fashir.
It should be remembered that in February, the Rapid Support Forces and its allied politicians and rebel groups agreed to form a government for a secular “New Sudan,” aiming to challenge the army-led administration’s legitimacy and secure advanced arms imports.
The new government announced yesterday includes Governors for Regions of the country still firmly controlled by the army.
The military led by career Army Officer Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan had condemned the idea of the Rapid Support Forces creating a parallel government and promised to keep fighting until the Army controls all of Sudan, which has for years been plagued by conflicts, coups, poverty and hunger.
Gen Dagalo, a former militia leader and one of Sudan’s wealthiest people, known as Hemedti, was hit with sanctions by the U.S., which accused him of genocide earlier this year and Gen Burhan was also sanctioned in January by the U.S., which accused him of choosing war over negotiations to bring an end to the conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people.
The two military men had previously shared power after Dictator Gen Omar al-Bashir’s ouster in 2019, however, a 2021 coup by the two forces ousted civilian politicians, sparked a war over troop integration during a planned transition to democracy.
According to the United Nations, the army has in recent weeks appointed a Prime Minister and permanent cabinet members for the first time since 2021 and the ongoing conflict has devastated Sudan, creating an unprecedented humanitarian crisis in the country, with half the population facing spreading hunger and famine.
Additional Reporting from Associated Press
