From abuse to abuse, like a never-ending nightmare. Fighting between the army and the paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces (FSR), led by General Mohamed Dagalo, known as “Hemeti”, has intensified in recent weeks on several fronts. The regular army, under the leadership of General Abdel Fattah Al Burhane, recaptured two key bridges over the Nile between Khartoum and Omdurman as well as Khartoum-North at the end of September, bringing together the three parts of the capital divided since the start of the fighting. , April 15, 2023. But if the Sudanese army advances in Omdurman, where it carries out airstrikes – which do not spare civilians – it is subjected to strong pressure from the RSF in the rest of the country.
In the central state of Al-Gezirah, the RSF have killed hundreds of civilians in recent days, after their commander in that area defected to the opposite camp following the recapture by the army of the strategic crossroads of Jebel Moya. “The FSR militia engaged in reprisals”castigated the Sudanese ambassador in Paris, Khalid Mohamed Farah.
“Nightmare of violence”
In Darfur, the last major town in the region to escape the paramilitaries, El Facher, has been under siege for months. The RSF bombarded the airport and the eastern district of the city with heavy artillery in early November.
“In El Facher, the RSF destroyed numerous hospitals and schools; they targeted the refugee camps around the city”denounces Mansour Arbab Younès, leader of New-Jem (Movement for Justice and Equality), whose militia, which fought the Sudanese army during the conflict in Darfur from 2003 to 2020, joined its former enemy, after the crimes of ethnic cleansing committed in El-Geneina, particularly against the Massalit people, in the fall of 2023. “It is first and foremost an alliance against the FSRhe justifies to The Cross. They are the ones who attack our social organization and our people in Darfur. »
According to the United States, nearly 150,000 people have been killed since the start of the war a year and a half ago. Unverifiable figures, due to lack of possible on-site investigation. Rapes “generalized” and others “unnamed atrocities” : “the Sudanese people are living a nightmare of violence”lamented the Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, at the end of October.
But the population also suffers a “nightmare of hunger”with more than 750,000 people experiencing food insecurity “catastrophic”; and “disease nightmare” with cholera, malaria, dengue or measles “which spread quickly”. And, finally, a “travel nightmare”with more than 11 million displaced people, including 3 million refugees in neighboring countries. In total, 25 million people need help, including 14 million children.
France and the United Kingdom called to act
Faced with this catastrophic situation, Sudan launched a diplomatic offensive to find a way out. “Let the international community clearly tell the UAE to stop supporting the RSF”pleaded the Sudanese ambassador in Paris, also demanding that it put pressure on General Dagalo’s paramilitaries to respect the Jeddah agreements of May 2023, “preliminary procedure necessary”. “There will be no peace negotiations before the implementation of this agreement”insisted Mansour Arbab Younès.
For its part, the United Kingdom, which holds the presidency of the UN Security Council until the end of November and represents Sudan in this body, is called by the NGO Human Rights Watch, this 11 November, to be done urgently “pressure on the Security Council to authorize a civil protection mission for Sudan”.
Khalid Mohamed Farah repeated that dozens of trucks loaded with weapons and hundreds of mercenaries had reached the FSR via the Adré border post in Chad. While Khartoum filed a complaint with the African Union against its neighbor, the ambassador confirmed that his country had “approached France” for mediation between Sudan and Chad. Furthermore, a new meeting between Sudanese political parties is being prepared in Cairo, indicated on November 6 Africa Intelligence.
“There is a risk of violence spreading to neighboring countries: Chad, Ethiopia, South Sudan”says Mansour Arbab, on tour in Europe, on behalf of New Jem, to ask for financial aid and warn of the possible regional consequences of the conflict, he who fears a “proliferation of arms trafficking and trafficking in general”. And to raise the scarecrow of a refugee crisis: “There are increasing numbers of young Sudanese fleeing war in Europe. »
