Rapid Support Forces accuse the ‘Brotherhood’ of dragging Sudan into a prolonged war… Details
The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has warned that the military is trying to drag it into a long-term conflict, referring to the Brotherhood wing of the armed forces and former regime loyalists, and stressing its commitment to a short-term truce.
The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) on Sunday welcomed a week-long ceasefire agreement brokered by the US and Saudi Arabia in Jeddah, humanitarian arrangements to facilitate aid to civilians, and maintenance and operation of water, electricity and communications facilities.
We affirm our full commitment to the ceasefire, which began on Monday night, and work to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid, open corridors for civilians, and to do everything possible to alleviate the suffering of our people.
The State of Qatar also stressed its keenness and determination to “break this evil circle that has been controlling the fate of our people unjustly and tyrannically, and we are also determined to implement the security and military reform program in order to achieve stability in our country.”
“Sudan can accommodate all of us without discrimination,” it said, adding: “We are all equal in rights and duties and there is no preference for one over the other, real power and full sovereignty for our people, and there is no place among us for tyrants.”
On Saturday, dozens of Sudanese took part in a protest in Paris to condemn the army’s continued aerial bombardment and artillery attacks. Demonstrators carried banners calling for an end to the shelling of civilians, and others saying, “Stop the massacres of innocent people.”
A senior official in the Rapid Support Organization described Saturday’s ceasefire agreement with the Sudanese army in the Saudi city of Jeddah as “a good and positive step, and an important breakthrough in the negotiations reached by the two sides in the Jeddah talks.”
“The signing is easy, but what is important is to adhere to the truce and ceasefire, because it is the challenge,” Yousef Ezzat, political advisor to the commander of the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo (Hemeti), told the Deutsche Presse Agentur (DPA) news agency, noting that a number of truces had been agreed but that they had not led to a halt in the war.
Some parties in the army reject the ceasefire and insist on a military solution, he said, adding that these elements are known to the support forces for their political affiliation and their methods to achieve power through violence.
“They see their interest in dragging the army into a long war and are currently mobilizing for a long war,” he said. “We expect their elements within the army to violate the truce that was reached in Jeddah.”
The RSF has repeatedly accused the Brotherhood’s military wing of fueling the fighting, saying they have no intention of ending it, as they want to burn the nation for power and return to power.
The United States and Saudi Arabia announced late Saturday that representatives of the Sudanese military and the Rapid Support Forces agreed to a week-long ceasefire that begins Monday and “can be extended with the consent of both parties.”
“The agreement is not the first since the war began, and the two sides have agreed to nearly 12 truces, all of which were breached minutes after they came into effect.”
The US-Saudi joint statement confirmed that “unlike the previous ceasefire, the agreement reached in Jeddah was signed by the two parties and will be supported by an internationally-backed ceasefire monitoring mechanism” from Saudi Arabia, the United States and the international community.
The ongoing war has taken a heavy toll on infrastructure, with most hospitals out of service, either in Khartoum or in the western Darfur region where fighting is also intense.
Those unable to flee the capital’s roughly 5 million residents have been forced to stay at home without water or electricity, and for weeks humanitarian staff have been demanding safe passages to transport medicines, fuel and food, in an attempt to provide some of the services that have been deteriorating for decades.
