Highlights: Deadly clashes broke out on Saturday (April 15th) in Sudan between the Sudanese Armed Forces led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces. At the root of this situation is a power struggle between Sudan's two most powerful generals. The two officers know each other well, having both operated in Darfur during the civil war in the 2000s. They have been competing for several years to recover a number of resource networks since the 2019 revolution. Sudan is moving towards a transfer of power to civilians, but in October 2021, the military makes another coup.

Deadly clashes broke out on Saturday (April 15th) in Sudan between the Sudanese Armed Forces led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary militia...

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Sudan, at the origins of the crisis

More than 180 people have been killed and 1,800 injured in armed clashes between military rivals in Sudan since last weekend, the United Nations envoy to Sudan announced on April 17, 2023. © Servetus Gunerigok

Text by: Sébastien Németh Follow

3 min

Deadly clashes erupted on Saturday (April 15th) in Sudan between the Sudanese Armed Forces led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary militia led by General Hemetti. The latest assessment given by the UN is 185 dead and more than 1,800 wounded.

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This violence is not a surprise. It is the culmination of several months of tension between the two groups and especially their two leaders. At the root of this situation is a power struggle between Sudan's two most powerful generals. On one side is army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who de facto rules the country. On the other, his number two, General Mohamed Hamdane Daglo, nicknamed "Hemetti", heads the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a powerful paramilitary force.

To understand this rivalry, we must go back to April 11, 2019. On that day, dictator Omar al-Bashir was overthrown in a military coup. Al Burhan and his junta take power. Hemetti is number two in the regime. Sudan is moving towards a transfer of power to civilians, but in October 2021, the military makes another coup. Al Burhan and Hemetti are maneuvering to derail the democratic transition.

Integration into the army

In recent months, Sudan has once again moved towards a transfer of power to civilians. But a thorny issue remained how to integrate the Hemetti Rapid Support Forces into the regular army. And then who to control the soldiers? Who to control weapons?

► Read also: Sudan: "We are only collateral damage in their struggle for power"

The two generals have opposing positions on this. The army wanted a very rapid integration, within one or two years. General Al-Burhan, supported by Egypt, and under pressure from some Islamist cadres of the army, conditioned the signing of the agreement to the integration of the RSF into the ranks of the army, under his command.

The RSF wanted to maintain autonomy for up to ten years. Hemetti categorically refused to let his rival command his men and agreed to place his forces only under the authority of a civilian head of state, and on condition that the army be purged of its Islamist elements. This security reform, a central issue in the transfer of power to civilians, has therefore ignited the powder.

Former rivalry

But the rivalry between the two men is older. For years, General Hemeti's Rapid Support Forces have been steadily gaining momentum. Made up of 80 to 120,000 men, well equipped, well trained, this force in the form of a free electron, which did not respond to the central power, aroused discontent in the staff of the regular army. With the sending of mercenaries to Yemen and the financial windfall of gold smuggling on behalf of the UAE, Hemetti has also become one of the richest and most powerful men in the country.

The rivalry between Al-Burhan and Hemetti is also personal. The two officers know each other well, having both operated in Darfur during the civil war in the 2000s and then during the Yemen war. And they have been competing for several years to recover a number of resource networks since the 2019 revolution.

All this has only made things worse as the months go by. With an acceleration during political negotiations. Each side recruited massively, especially from the youth of Darfur, the greater western region.

For several weeks, the two antagonistic groups had made major movements, bringing men and equipment to the capital. Tensions escalated on Thursday (April 13th) when the RSF deployed around an air base in Meroe, in the north of the country. Clashes, two days later, could break out.

► READ ALSO: In the News: civilians targeted in Sudan as the conflict intensifies

Sudan, at the origins of the crisis

Sudan, at the origins of the crisis

Integration into the army

Former rivalry

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