Islamic Movement Fueling Sudan’s War
Following the American sanctions that hit former Sudanese Foreign Minister Ali Karti, civil leaders and officials in the Forces for Freedom and Change called for not limiting themselves to sanctions, but to conside the Islamic Movement, especially the extremist wing of it, a “terrorist group,” after it confirmed its role in igniting the war and insisted on continuing it in order to preserve its interests.
Khaled Omar Youssef, a leader in the Freedom and Change Forces, considered these sanctions an affirmation of the third party’s involvement in the six-month war between the army and the Rapid Support Forces. Meanwhile, the Islamic Movement criticized the decision and called it an oppressive act, even a “necklace of honor” on the chest of its Secretary General, positioned in the wrong row of the conflict in Sudan.
Omar, who served as Minister of the Council of Ministers in the government of Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok, said in a statement posted on his X Platform account earlier that the sanctions included, for the first time, a “third party” other than the two warring parties, the Islamic Movement, represented by its current leader, Ali Ahmed Karti.
He said the most important point in the US Treasury statement was the Islamists‘ role in “standing up against attempts to reach an agreement for calm among the armed forces and rapid support”, adding that “Thursday’s sanctions confirm evidence of the involvement of elements of the former regime in the catastrophe that is now bedeviling our country.”
Islamists seek to militarize political life
“They want to militarize life in the country, this is the climate in which they are good at living, and they want to take revenge and liquidate the revolution,” he said. “The most important issue for the National Congress is to continue to maintain its influence within the security and military institutions, as they are a popularly isolated group who have no power except through their presence within the security and military system, within which they use their influence to achieve their political agenda.”
Shihab Ibrahim, a leader in the Coalition of the Forces of the Declaration of Freedom and Change, said sanctions against the Islamist movement were delayed and were supposed to be implemented earlier, but he acknowledged his alliance’s understanding of the decision-making methods of some regional and international groups.
Ibrahim said that the sanctions confirmed the role of the Islamic Movement led by Karti in starting the war, and in working to continue it in order to maintain its interests and return to government again, or at the minimum, to remain an influential on the political scene, and to stay the “deep state” that the Committee for the Dismantling of the June 30 Regime had been dismantling. Ibrahim called for not only the sanctions issued against the Secretary General of the Islamic Movement, but also the classification of the movement as a “terrorist group“, without including “all Islamists“, and the classification of a “terrorist group” is limited to those seeking to sabotage the civil democratic transition.
Islamic Movement: America Is Taking Its Horns Lightly
In the first reaction from the Sudanese Islamic Movement, it described the decision of the US Treasury Department as “a medal of honor on the chest of the Secretary General of the Islamic Movement, who stood by himself and his money fighting for the sake of God and the homeland.” The Islamic Movement said in a statement, Thursday, “It is not surprising that the United States of America seeks to issue its unjust decisions and is back in the wrong row at an important era in the history of Sudan.” The statement added that the US administration wants to appease its “horns” who accuse the leadership of the “Islamic Movement” of igniting war, “which is innocent, and seeks further provocation to describe a position on the side of the nation, not on the side of traitors and agents.” The statement said that the position of the “the Islamic Movement” has been declared since the safety of the country, and the preservation of its decision.
Former Undersecretary of State, Ambassador Abdallah Al-Azraq, said in a Telegram post that the decision of the US sanctions against the Secretary General of the Islamic Movement Ali Karti means turning a blind eye to what he called the “role of its agents” in planning the war, accusing foreign parties of playing a role in the issuance of the US decision, based as he put it on “Islamophobia“, and an attempt to weaken the Islamists in favor of the forces of declaring “Freedom and Change.”
The United States has issued sanctions against the Islamist leader, Ali Ahmed Karti, accusing him of working to weaken efforts to reach a peaceful solution in Sudan, destabilizing and obstructing the civil democratic transition, and undermining the transitional government, which contributed to the outbreak of the current war, and of working with hard-line Islamists to obstruct ceasefire efforts, and is somehow responsible for acts and policies that threaten the peace, security, and stability of the country.
Bombing of a transport station
On the other hand, the Sudanese Foreign Ministry stated that the “Rapid Support Forces” shelled a public transportation station in the Giraffe area north of Omdurman, resulting in the death of 10 civilians and causing a large number of injuries, some of them severe. This may lead to an increase in the death toll. The conflicting parties in Sudan, the army, and the “Rapid Support Forces,” continued clashes and artillery exchanges in several areas in the capital Khartoum over the past few days, including today (Friday). On Thursday evening, 6 people, including children, were killed while inside buses at a transport station, and several people in the vicinity of the station were injured by shrapnel from artillery shells, according to eyewitnesses. The Resistance Committee in Giraffe (a civilian organization) announced on its Facebook page the death of 9 citizens and injuries to dozens. It stated that the citizen Haib Mohammed Al-Rabbatabi lost his wife and all his children as a result of the shelling.
In a statement today (Friday), the Sudanese Foreign Ministry accused the “rebel Rapid Support Forces” of committing the massacre by shelling a public transportation station in the Giraffe area north of Omdurman with heavy artillery during the peak crowded hours, resulting in an initial toll of 10 deaths, including children. Many wounded are still receiving treatment, some with severe injuries, suggesting a potential increase in the number of casualties. Vehicles and commercial shops in the area were also destroyed.
Meanwhile, the spokesperson for the armed forces, Nabil Abdullah, reported in a statement on Thursday night’s operational situation that the “Rapid Support Forces” carried out indiscriminate shelling targeting civilians in the Aljarafa area in Khartoum, resulting in the death of 10 people, including an entire family.
Clashes around General Command
Meanwhile, renewed fighting broke out today between the army and the “rapid support” in the surroundings of the general command of the army in central Khartoum, the presidential palace and other scattered areas in the capital. Witnesses from the neighborhoods adjacent to the command said that columns of smoke rose thick in the sky of the area due to shelling and clashes between the two fighting forces.
The military said it carried out air strikes with marches on Rapid Support Forces (RSF) military compounds and positions in the western al-Jerif neighborhood, east of Khartoum, and also targeted artillery shelling at other RSF positions in the southern neighborhoods of al-Sahafa, Jubra and Maamoura.
