KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Since the beginning of this month, Sudan's western Darfur region has witnessed attacks on army officers and security forces, killing an army officer, a police officer and a third in the Rapid Support Forces and looting military vehicles, in a development that threatens to return the region to nearly two decades when a war broke out that left thousands dead, hundreds of thousands sought refuge in neighboring countries and displaced millions to camps inside the region.
Lieutenant Colonel Ahmed Mohamed Ali Bakhit, head of the operations division of the 21st Division in Zalingei, Central Darfur state, was killed and his vehicle looted by three unidentified gunmen who fired a barrage of bullets at him in the middle of a market in the city before fleeing to an unknown destination.
Last week, the capital of Nyala, South Darfur, witnessed the killing of Army Colonel Abdel Azim Issa by unknown gunmen who tried to loot a military vehicle in which he was traveling, and the security services have not been able to arrest them so far.
A captain in the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) was killed last weekend and three of his soldiers wounded after gunmen shot him east of El Daein, the capital of East Darfur state.
In another incident, last Tuesday, 4 members of the police forces were killed and 4 others, including an officer, were wounded in a clash with an armed gang looting cars on the road linking Central and West Darfur states.
The return of the atmosphere of war
It should be noted that the war in the Darfur region began in 2003 with the problem of camel theft and turned into local demands that were politically exploited due to the power struggle in Khartoum, and groups attacked police stations and security forces and seized weapons and military vehicles, which led to a security vacuum and armed confrontations, and weapons flowed into Darfur across its borders from Libya, Chad and Central Africa.
Security sources – Al Jazeera Net – said that the Darfur region is witnessing a complex situation, where the return of armed groups and factions that were fighting with the parties to the conflict in Libya began, and these groups have vehicles, weapons and fighters without work and in their hands weapons can be used in any illegal activities.
The volatile situation in neighbouring Central Africa, the departure of the border strip adjacent to the Darfur region from government control, the deteriorating security situation in Chadian areas close to western Sudan and the long border with Libya, where several military groups compete, are all factors that put Darfur on a hot plate and make the region a hotbed for receiving weapons and militants, according to the same sources.
She did not rule out that there are political fingers behind the events in Darfur, taking advantage of the political and security situation in the country, to confuse the cards and divert the attention of the military and security forces from plans planned in Khartoum to change the political equation and the current balance of power in their favor and impose a new reality.
The armed conflict in the Darfur region began in 2003 (Reuters)
Political agenda
A military official (preferred not to be named) refused to point fingers at any party in the attack on army officers in Darfur, and said – Al Jazeera Net – that they opened an investigation into the killing of two officers in Nyala and then Zalingei, and saw that Darfur is living in a state of security fragility so the incidents of armed looting is possible and expected.
However, Tariq Abdullah, head of Reporters Against Crime, said that the targeting of military personnel in Darfur is likely to be carried out by armed groups seeking military vehicles to strengthen their presence and strengthen their military influence, or a new military movement planning to acquire combat vehicles to establish themselves and engage in activities to attract attention and push the government to negotiate with them for political gains.
In a statement to Al Jazeera Net, Abdullah says that those who loot military vehicles if they want money, the looting of commercial and civilian vehicles is easier and less expensive for them, so behind the attacks on the military often political agenda and not isolated criminal incidents, pointing out that the first phase of the war witnessed cooperation between armed looting gangs were seizing military vehicles and selling them to armed movements.
All possibilities
In an interview with Al Jazeera Net, the expert in crisis management and negotiation at the Strategic Research Center, Major General Amin Ismail Majzoub, believes that the assassination of army officers in Darfur in this way indicates a defect, because any officer in the military institution of the rank of colonel and above should move and be accompanied by a guard, and his movement without guard is easy to target, which is a failure that requires investigation.
Majzoub identifies several possibilities in Darfur incidents, including that the looted military vehicles are expensive, are only held by military and security forces, and are wanted by armed groups in neighbouring countries.
He added that Sudanese armed groups have recently returned from Libya and want military vehicles to strengthen their position and improve their negotiating position in any future settlements.
He believes that there is a possibility that parties will try to stir up strife between the army and the Rapid Support Forces, taking advantage of the state of disagreement between the perpetrators on the file of security and military reform, especially the integration of the Rapid Support Forces into the military system, pointing out that the failure to find the perpetrators behind the attacks is likely to have capabilities, capabilities and means to mitigate.
Majzoub said that the occurrence of five assassinations and looting of vehicles in two weeks reflects the existence of planning and planning by parties that have an agenda and a project that they are seeking to achieve.
Majzoub warns of complications surrounding the presence of regular forces in key locations in the Darfur region because they are located in areas of conflict and tribal overlap, the deployment of fighters of armed movements that signed a peace agreement with the government but have not yet integrated their forces into government forces, and the presence of forces in neighboring countries close to the Sudanese border wearing military uniforms similar to those of Sudanese forces that can cross the common border or infiltrate Darfur.