Since April 15th, Sudan has plunged into chaos again. The civil war is tearing the country apart: here’s what is happening.
Sudan is torn apart by civil war: the country is once again in chaos. The promises of the international community have been useless. If on April 4th they met for an Iftar (the evening meal that breaks the daily fast in the month of Ramadan), the army chief, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the head of the paramilitary Rsf (Rapid Support Forces), General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo to talk about peace, war broke out a few days later.
Hard fighting between the Sudanese regular army and the powerful RSF military group have been going on since April 15 to gain control of the country. The epicenter of the fighting remains the capital Khartum, where both factions claim to have control of the presidential palace and the airport, but there has not yet been any official news.
At the moment there are 600 dead, but the number is destined to increase. Among the victims there are also three employees of the World Food Program (Wfp), an agency of the UN that deals with food assistance. As clashes rage far and wide across the nation and Europe tries to evacuate its citizens, it is appropriate to stop and understand what is happening and why. Below is everything you need to know about the Civil War in Sudan, its geopolitical role and why it is being fought.
Sudan, civil war: what is happening and why it matters
From Khartum the conflict soon spread to other cities of the country, by now the civilian population is stuck in their homes. According to some witnesses, aerial bombings are also underway. The two fighting forces began to use artillery. Unfortunately, the situation on the ground is very confused and it is still difficult to understand what is happening and, above all, who is in control of Sudan.
The country, already unstable due to ethnic conflicts, risks - again - falling into chaos. The country has an important role on the geopolitical chessboard: Sudan is a huge country located immediately south of Egypt and has a strategic role for both political and military reasons, not to mention that it is one of the main places of departure of the migratory flows which from sub-Saharan Africa arrive in Libya and then embark on the Mediterranean.
Furthermore, Sudan is certainly important for numerous geopolitical issues exacerbated by the new international arrangements. The third largest country on the continent covers a strategic hinge role with the Arab world to the east, the Sahara to the west and the countries of Southern Africa. For years now Europe and the United States have been supporting the resumption of the democratic process, but it has not come to terms with other actors.
In fact, Sudan has also attracted the attention of Russia and its most important ally: China. In fact, the country could be a precious ally, both for the gold from the Darfur mines - which arrives illegally in Moscow via the United Arab Emirates - and for the central role it plays in Africa.
What’s Happening in Sudan: how it came to civil war
In order to understand how civil war came about today we need to go back to 2019, when after 30 years of dictatorship Omar al Bashir was deposed with a coup.
But after a brief democratic period, in 2021 the two generals Al-Burhan and Dagalo decided to overthrow the government with a coup d’état, establishing a military dictatorship. Since then the country has been governed by a military junta called the "Sovereign Council", of which Al-Burhan is the head and Dagalo is the second-in-command.
Yet, the alliance between the two generals was short-lived. At the end of 2022, the Sudanese military government had agreed to an agreement to return power to a civilian administration, on the promise of receiving international economic funds, resuming the path towards democratization.
In return, however, the international community demanded that the Rsf be integrated into the regular army, a paramilitary force born from the ashes of the Janjawid, the Arab ethnic militiamen loyal to Al-Bashir who during the repression of the Darfur rebels in 2003, were accused of genocide, and today close to the Wagner group. Dagalo however opposed, fearing losing his power, explaining that such integration would have required at least ten years and not two as requested by the international community.
Hence the birth of the political clash transformed into civil war, therefore born - like many other conflicts - on the promise of Western economic funds to extend a democratic model, a purpose almost always not maintained due to unrest and civil wars.
Civil war in Sudan: the European evacuation plan
As the civil war rages on in Sudan, the European Union is hard at work implementing an evacuation plan. Unfortunately, despite the three-day truce agreed between the armed forces and the paramilitaries on April 21st, fighting continues making it difficult for citizens to repatriate.
The European evacuation will take place through the assembly point in Djibouti, via the Khartoum route with the help of military aircraft. The operation will take place in the same way as what was implemented in Afghanistan but, in this case, it will only concern European citizens.
Original article published on Money.it Italy 2023-04-23 07:40:00. Original title: Cosa sta succedendo in Sudan?
