August 22, 2024:
Civil war has returned to Sudan with intense combat between the army and the rebel Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The RSF was established in 2013 as a paramilitary force that fought alongside the army to suppress ongoing violence in the western Sudan region of Darfur. The disputes in Darfur were mainly about violence between Moslem Arab Sudanese and largely Christian black African Sudanese. Several hundred thousand died in this conflict that was based on ethnic and religious differences. This violence has continued since 2003 with no end in sight. The RSF continues to attack civilians as well as fighting the Sudanese army.
Because of more than a year of violence, about 11 million Sudanese have been driven from their homes. Combat is currently occurring in at least 80 percent of Sudan.
The RSF and government agreed to a peace deal in 2023 but dissident elements in the RSF felt they had been cheated and began attacking the army and the government in general. This is another example of how unstable any peace deals between the army and RSF are. This is the latest in many attempts to form a stable and effective elected government. For example, back in 2019 the military dominated SNC (Sovereign National Council or Sovereign Council) first officially convened. It was agreed that there would be a 39 month-long transition from military dictatorship to an elected civilian government. It didn’t happen because of ongoing rebellions in some parts of the country and until these local disputes were settled, efforts to form an elected national government would not work. Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok has been in office from 2019 to early 2022, with a one month break in November 2021. Hamdok was pushed aside by military leaders in 2022 and that triggered another civil war.
The SNC’s military officers continue to exercise considerable power, both overt and covert. The SNC generals all served under former dictator Omar al Bashir and at least one of them, Lieutenant General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo is implicated in Bashir-era corrupt business practices. He also commanded the Rapid Support Forces militia, which traces its roots to the Janjaweed militias which continue to wage genocidal warfare in Darfur. Dagalo’s career is marked by corruption and genocide. Prime Minister Hamdok deals with complicated problems and complicated people as well as threats of assassination. A 2020 attempt on Hamdok’s life failed but it sent the message that Hamdok must rely on the security forces for his own protection. Meanwhile, Sudan’s economy continues its steep decline, remaining on the U.S. State Sponsor of Terrorism list, and currently has to deal with floods and famine. Floods have always been a problem but the recent ones this year were among the worst ever and arrived in the midst of a major famine.
Sudan still has problems tolerating its Christian citizens. Back in 2020 a transitional government announced it had abolished the Islamist committees created during the earlier Bashir dictatorship. The committees were used to persecute Christians and other non-Muslims. Persecution included confiscating Christian church properties and property belonging to Christians. By 2024 the violence against Sudanese Christians continued with the RSF doing most of the attacking. The war in Darfur ended in 2020, with over 300,000 dead, many of them Sudanese Christians. Darfur was once again declared to be an official region of Sudan. Since then the RSF has moved east into the heart of Sadan and even the capital Khartoum. This has forced the army to move its headquarters to the Red Sea coast. Fighting in and around Khartoum between the JSF and the army continues.