Among the many conflicts that have broken out over the past decade, few have been predicted by so many observers, so far in advance, as the fighting that erupted on April 15 in Sudan’s capital, Khartoum. The growing tensions between the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, under the command of Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, and the Sudanese armed forces, led by Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, had become increasingly visible in recent months. But those tensions preceded the popular uprising that brought about the fall of former President Omar al-Bashir’s authoritarian regime in April 2019. Almost every external and domestic powerbroker that has exerted influence over Sudan’s development over the past four decades shares in the blame for this devastating cycle of violence. Similarly, Sudanese governments of all stripes also allowed the armed forces to expand their autonomous business interests, which explains the military leadership’s unwillingness to share power with civilian or paramilitary rivals that could threaten its revenue streams.

Source: The North Africa Journal May 04, 2023 01:00 UTC