Latest news with #SudanConflict
Al Jazeera
2 days ago
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Why Sudan's RSF chose this parallel government ahead of peace talks
The Tasis Alliance, a coalition of Sudanese armed groups formed in February, has unveiled a parallel 'transitional peace' government to rival Sudan's wartime government in Port Sudan. Tasis is based on a partnership between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), a powerful armed group that controls swaths of South Kordofan and Blue Nile states in southern Sudan. SPLM-N has been fighting a rebellion against the central government and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) for 40 years – a conflict rooted in aggressive land grabs by central elites. The RSF and SAF are former allies, yet a power struggle triggered an all-out civil war in April 2023. Analysts have told Al Jazeera that Tasis aims to challenge SAF for legitimacy and power after more than two years of conflict. 'The Tasis government is the RSF's latest desperate attempt to rebrand itself as a state authority rather than a militia,' said Anette Hoffmann, an expert on Sudan at the Clingendale Institute think-tank in the Netherlands. 'Yet all their actions have continued to prove the opposite. While announcing their government … RSF forces and their allies were besieging entire state capitals and starving innocent civilians,' she told Al Jazeera. Tasis announced its government just three days before a new round of Sudan peace talks is set to begin on July 29 in the United States. The talks will bring together representatives from the Sudan Quartet – Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the US. Neither SAF nor the RSF will be included in this round, according to Africa Intelligence. Regardless, the RSF has long been wary of being dismissed as a mere 'armed group' in ceasefire negotiations and left out of the circles of power and influence in a post-war Sudan due to a lack of international legitimacy. By forming its own government, the Tasis Alliance aims to garner recognition from some friendly states and boost its bargaining position in future negotiations, said Kholood Khair, an expert on Sudan and the founder of the Confluence Advisory think-tank. 'What's interesting is that there has been so little disclosed about these new talks, yet it has started a fury across Sudan and catalysed the formation of these two governments,' Khair told Al Jazeera. She added that the army adopted a similar ploy in May when it appointed Kamel Idris as prime minister in Port Sudan, a strategic city on the Red Sea Coast. Idris recently appointed five new ministers to round out his new government, just a day after Tasis announced its parallel administration. Like Port Sudan, the RSF-backed government is run by a council of military elites and civilian loyalists. The RSF's leader, Mohamed Hamdan 'Hemedti' Dagalo, heads the Tasis's 15-member Presidential Council. SPLM-N leader Abdelaziz al-Hilu serves as his deputy. A reported 47 percent of posts in the new administration went to RSF-aligned armed commanders and civil servants, while SPLM-N was given about one-third of the posts. The rest were handed out to smaller armed groups and political parties who advantageously joined Tasis to boost their relevance, as previously reported by Al Jazeera. Post appointees include Suleiman Sandal from the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) – a rebel group that emerged out of the Darfur wars and splintered in the current war – who was made interior minister. Al-Tahir Hajar, from the Sudan Liberation Forces Gathering (SLFG), which also emerged from the Darfur wars, is a prominent member of the Tasis leadership council. The prime minister of the Tasis government is Mohamed Hassan al-Ta'aishi, a politician from Darfur and a former member of the transitional Sovereign Council that led Sudan shortly after former President Omar al-Bashir was toppled in 2019. The Sovereign Council was headed by SAF chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Hemedti. The two were supposed to step down from power in 2021, yet they orchestrated a coup to dismiss the then-civilian cabinet and dash hopes for democracy. Since SAF recaptured the capital Khartoum from the RSF in March, the former has been in control of the east and centre of the country, while the RSF has attempted to consolidate its control over the western and southern regions. The Tasis government may have ended up cementing that division more than helping it gain an advantage at the negotiating table, said Alan Boswell, an expert on Sudan with International Crisis Group. 'The RSF aims to be legitimate as a national actor,' he said. 'Yet [this government] makes de facto partition all the more likely, even if that is not the strategic intent.' Khair added that the creation of a second government further incentivises armed groups to accumulate power in hopes of scoring a post in one of the two administrations. 'This [new government] really catalyses the proliferation of different armed groups,' she said. 'More armed groups will mobilise … to win a position [in one of the two governments] during wartime.' 'This is a reality that really entrenches war dynamics.'
The National
3 days ago
- Politics
- The National
Sudan's army-backed government condemns RSF naming new PM
Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF) named a prime minister and a presidential council to lead a government to rival the army-backed administration in a move that risks further dividing the war-torn country. The army-backed government has condemned the RSF's announcement, describing it as a 'phantom government' and accusing the group of 'disregarding the suffering of the Sudanese people'. 'This is clear evidence of the defeat and rout of the rebel group at the hands of our valiant armed forces,' the army-backed Foreign Ministry said on Sunday. The RSF appointed Mohamed Hassan Al Tayashi – a former member of Sudan's Transitional Sovereignty Council from 2019 until 2021 as Prime Minister. The announcement was made from the city of Nyala, in Darfur, where the group's tribal power base resides. Authorities accused the RSF of deliberately trying to undermine the military-aligned government, which has been the ruling body of the Afro-Arab country since 2019. Sudan is split, with the army controlling the north, east and centre, having recently retaken the capital Khartoum, while the RSF holds most of Darfur and parts of Kordofan. General Abdel Fattah Al Burhan has pledged to continue fighting until the army regains control of all territory. The RSF and allied rebel groups claim the move is a step towards forming a 'New Sudan' and challenging the army's legitimacy. The Mashad Organisation for Human Rights and Humanitarian Development, a Sudanese NGO, warned that the RSF's announcement could deepen the country's humanitarian crisis. 'This represents a grave violation of international law and an affront to the will of the Sudanese people,' the organisation's head, Ahmed Abdullah, told The National last week. 'Any effort to impose realities by force will only lead to more violence and division,' he said. Since the conflict erupted in April 2023, more than tens of thousands have been killed, and more than 20 million displaced, according to the UN. Sudan's war has also pushed millions into hunger, with the UN warning that the RSF's move could further fragment the country and complicate already fragile peace efforts.
Al Arabiya
4 days ago
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Sudanese coalition led by paramilitary RSF announces parallel government
A Sudanese coalition led by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces announced on Saturday the members of a parallel government, a move opposed by the army, its rival in a 27-month war that could drive the country further towards partition. RSF leader General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo was announced head of the presidential council, while Abdel Aziz al-Hilu, head of the SPLM-N, one of the country's largest rebel groups, was made his deputy on a 15-member council. Mohamed Hassan al-Taishi, a civilian politician, was named prime minister, and regional governors were announced in a press conference from Nyala, the largest city in the Darfur region which the RSF controls most of. The Sudanese army has pushed the paramilitaries 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. In February, the RSF 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 government announced on Saturday includes governors for regions of the country firmly controlled by the army. The military led by career army officer General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan had condemned the idea of the RSF creating a parallel government and promised to keep fighting until it controls all of Sudan, which has for years been plagued by conflicts, coups, poverty and hunger. Dagalo, a former militia leader and one of Sudan's wealthiest people, known as Hemedti, was hit with sanctions by the US, which accused him of genocide earlier this year. Burhan was sanctioned in January by the US, 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 men had previously shared power after veteran autocrat Omar al-Bashir's ouster in 2019. However, a 2021 coup by the two forces ousted civilian politicians, sparking a war over troop integration during a planned transition to democracy. The army has in recent weeks appointed a prime minister and permanent cabinet members for the first time since 2021. The ongoing conflict has devastated Sudan, creating an unprecedented humanitarian crisis in the country, with half the population facing spreading hunger and famine, according to the United Nations.
The National
21-07-2025
- Politics
- The National
Egypt sets up trains for Sudanese refugees to return home
Egypt 's railways on Monday launched a special train service for people from Sudan to return home, despite the conflict in their country. Train 1940 left Cairo on Monday morning, heading to Aswan, where passengers will continue their journey on to Sudan via the Aswan High Dam Port. Television coverage of the first trip showed hundreds of Sudanese lining up to board the train, carrying their belongings. The same train will carry regular passengers back to Cairo every Tuesday before returning to Aswan the following Sunday. The train, equipped with third-class air-conditioned carriages, is intended to ease travel for those seeking to return to their homeland, Egypt's railway authority said. It is part of a project to assist Sudanese citizens who have sought refuge in Egypt since the outbreak of the Sudan conflict in April 2023. Egyptian government figures indicate more than 1.5 million Sudanese have entered the country since the civil war started. The initiative follows calls earlier this year by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), which regained control of Khartoum in March, for displaced citizens to return. President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly have also said the number of refugees in Egypt is exerting strain on the country's economy and resources. However, returning home is not without challenges. In a report on Sudan's humanitarian crisis, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) described the situation as the "largest and most devastating displacement crisis in the world". The conflict has displaced more than 12 million people, including 3.8 million who have fled to neighbouring countries and 8.5 million who remain internally displaced in Sudan. The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) reported in late April that the number of Sudanese citizens returning home from Egypt surged by 44 per cent in three weeks, rising from 115,000 to more than 165,000. The increase came after the SAF's recapture of Khartoum and parts of central Sudan, which prompted many refugees to attempt to return. Despite this, the IOM described the conditions facing those going back as challenging and fraught with risk, with obstacles including a lack of access to food, health care and other basic services. The UNHCR report said areas such as Khartoum, Darfur and Kordofan remained dangerous, with widespread destruction, violence and severe food shortages. Many who return find themselves in regions with little infrastructure and limited humanitarian assistance, leaving them vulnerable to further displacement. The journey itself is also perilous. According to the UNHCR, a lack of security on roads and at border areas increases the risk of being subjected to attacks, extortion or harassment. Transport is disrupted by road closures, fuel shortages and inflation, making travel expensive and unsafe for many. While the train service provides a means for Sudanese in Egypt to return, humanitarian organisations warn that conditions in Sudan remain dire. UNHCR has called for increased international funding to address the growing needs of displaced people, with only 21 per cent of a $1.1 billion appeal target for Sudan and neighbouring countries having been reached as of March.
France 24
15-07-2025
- Politics
- France 24
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