Reignited Conflict in Sudan

[Silvanus]

The Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a Sudanese paramilitary organisation that fought alongside the Sudanese military in the War in Darfur, has claimed to have seized the presidential palace in Khartoum, as well as Khartoum's primary airport.

Part of the 2020 peace agreement that brought a (tentative) end to the 20+ year-long War in Darfur was a stipulation that the RSF, many units of which had taken a leading role in ethnic cleansing and massacres of non-Arabs, must be incorporated into the regular Sudanese army. The Sudanese military government had agreed, and had given July 2023 as a date for elections and the formal withdrawal of the military from politics.

But it seems the RSF is unwilling to accept incorporation and withdrawal.

The Sudanese army has denied that the RSF has taken government buildings in Khartoum, and has launched airstrikes against the RSF's base near the capital.

~56 civilians have died so far, and hundreds have been wounded.

Sudan's army pounds paramilitary bases with air strikes in power struggle

A prolonged confrontation between the RSF paramilitary group and the army could plunge Sudan into widespread conflict and could derail efforts to move toward elections.

www.reuters.com

 

[Silvanus]

Civilian death toll stands at 97 confirmed on day 3, including 3 employees of the UN World Food Programme. Fighting has also sparked in Nyala, Sudan's second largest city.

 

[XsjadoBlaydette]

Yikes, hadn't known about any of this before. Can't comment much without doing more research. Is killing of UN employees going to be perceived as an escalation? Or is that a more common occurrence than it sounds?

In this present ignorance, my only reference to Darfur has been an underratedt trip-hop duo's track, seemingly unfortunately still relevant;

 

[Silvanus]

Yikes, hadn't known about any of this before. Can't comment much without doing more research. Is killing of UN employees going to be perceived as an escalation? Or is that a more common occurrence than it sounds?

It's relatively rare, given their internationally-protected status, but not unheard of it. According to the UN, ~32 UN staff were killed in 2022, primarily in Mali and DRC. The World Food Programme has apparently paused its current provision in Sudan while staff safety can't be guaranteed.

 

[Gergar12]

It’s another proxy conflict. US backs the government, and the RSF is backed by the Russians. They are both bad but the RSF is worse due to the Darfur massacres.

 

[Silvanus]

It’s another proxy conflict. US backs the government, and the RSF is backed by the Russians. They are both bad but the RSF is worse due to the Darfur massacres.

It's certainly a bit coincidental that this round of fighting, between former allies, sparks off this year-- considering Russia's paramilitary Wagner Group is involved in large-scale theft of Sudan's gold resources.

But it could /feasibly/ be just that. Coincidental. Is there any uncircumstantial evidence the US and/or Russia were involved in creating this schism? By all accounts it was caused by the stipulation that the RSF must be integrated into the main Sudanese army-- which is a stipulation that Russia/US didn't have anything to do with, AFAIK.

 

[Silvanus]

It has been 2 full years, almost to the day, since the Sudanese civil war began. Government forces retook Khartoum about a month ago, but more broadly conflict doesn't look like it's nearing it's end.

In that time;
* The death toll is poorly catalogued, but is well over 150,000 at least, owing to both violence and malnutrition;
* Over 12 million have been displaced;
* Some areas of Darfur (in western Sudan-- much of the south of Darfur is controlled by RSF, while parts of the north are held by the government) meet the criteria for famine.

The UAE appears to be surreptitiously involved, as reportedly UAE passports have been found among military dead. UAE denies involvement.

Sudan in ‘world’s largest humanitarian crisis’ after two years of civil war

NGOs and UN say country is ‘worse off than ever before’ with wide-scale displacement, hunger, famine and attacks on refugee camps

www.theguardian.com