Hannah Omarjee | homarjee@radioislam.org.za

19 April 2023 |17:00 CAT
3 min read

Photo Credit: WORDCRAFTBYANNISA

Fighting has erupted in Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, and other locations across the nation as strong competing military factions struggle for control, raising the possibility of widespread civil war. The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese army had been at odds for months, and an international-backed strategy to launch a new transition to civilian authority, set to be signed earlier this month, finally tipped the scales, resulting in widespread violence and carnage.

Radio Islam International discussed the conflict on this week’s Media Lens with Ibrahim Deen.

According to Deen, the conflict is believed to have stemmed from the early 2000s, during Omar al Bashir’s regime. The RSF, led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, is the remnant of the Janjaweed, an Arab militia group that engaged in an uprising in the Darfur region in the 2000s. The long-reigning President Omar Al-Bashir’s regime employed them to aid the army in ending a revolt.

The battle is said to have resulted in the deaths of 300 000 people, and a further 2.5 million were displaced. The International Criminal Court prosecutors charged authorities in Darfur with genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. Deen said both factions, the military and the RSF have significant interest in Sudan’s economy.

“You know, the military, for example, controls production; in certain instances, there is a budget. The RSF controls a few gold mines and is involved in, and sent troops to Yemen, for example.”

This resulted in both factions wanting to be the ‘top dog’ in the country. According to Deen, conflict over resources, personality issues, and the fact that the RSF has close ties to the UAE and Saudi Arabia, while the military is linked to Egypt, culminated in the clashes that started on Saturday, 15 April 2023.

Deen believes media coverage is significant and shapes the narrative of the conflict. The media coverage of the conflict in Sudan has consisted of articles about the clashes between the two factions.

“You know, there has been minimal focus on, you know, what informed both the influence and support and reasons behind the personality’s power bases.”

Little focus on the RSF, how it gained power and influence, and even less focus placed on outside power and influence has resulted in surface issues being solved through a ceasefire, but the deeper, underlying issues remain unresolved, causing the conflict to recommence.

Deen believes there needs to be short-term and long-term solutions to the conflict. In the short term, to stop the current carnage, a ceasefire needs to be signed by both factions.

“So you know, the short term, we need ceasefire agreements, we need, you know, ways of sharing power. But I think moving on; there needs to be a greater emphasis placed on circumventing and conscribing the power of the security apparatus.”

A long-term solution would be for Sudan to assert its independence, especially against outside influences who favour an autocratic government and want to use Sudan’s strategic location to monitor issues in Africa and parts of the Red Sea.

Listen to the full interview of the Media Lens with Ibrahim Deen on Sabahul Muslim hosted by Ml Junaid Kharsany here