The head of the Sudanese Army, Abdelfatá al Burhan, ordered on Monday the disbanding of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and their classification as a »rebel group» following the clashes that broke out on Saturday, which have so far left about a hundred civilians dead, apart from the casualties among the fighting forces.
»As a result of the RSF rebellion, the chairman of the Sovereign Transitional Council and commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces has issued a decision to dissolve the RSF and declare it as a rebel group against the state, and action will be taken against it accordingly,» the Sudanese Foreign Ministry said.
Thus, it has denounced that the RSF launched attacks on Saturday against military positions in the capital Khartoum and other cities in the country, including the residence of Al Burhan, shortly before the scheduled meeting between the army chief and the leader of the RSF, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, alias ‘Hemedti’, to address the tensions, as reported by the Sudanese state news agency, SUNA.
In this regard, he outlined that this is a sign of »bad faith» on the part of the RSF and stressed that the Army »responded, in line with its national responsibility to achieve security and stability in the country». »The Armed Forces were able to defeat the rebels, inflicting heavy losses in lives and equipment, forcing a large number of them to surrender or flee the battlefield,» he concluded.
Sudan’s main civilian organizations and political parties have demanded in unison over the weekend not only an end to the fighting, but also an end to the »militarization» that has dominated »the public space» in the country for decades and, in particular, since the overthrow four years ago of dictator Omar Hassan al Bashir following a revolution in which civilians were an instrumental part.
The African country was ruled before the outbreak of fighting by a junta led by the army chief who had as his ‘number two’ the military leader of the RSF. Disagreements between the two over paramilitary integration into a future unified army – an agreement prior to the formation of a new civilian-led unity government – eventually degenerated into this conflict.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
