Foreign diplomats are worried about the escalating tensions in Sudan

In a joint statement released on Thursday, foreign diplomats from France, Germany, Norway, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union voiced worry about the rising hostilities between Sudan’s armed forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, or RSF.

In a statement issued on Thursday, it is said that “we urge on Sudan’s military and civilian authorities to actively alleviate tensions.”

In order to create a future unified, professional military answerable to a civilian government, the joint statement underscored, “We encourage them to keep to their pledges and engage constructively to settle lingering problems on security sector reform.”

The officials from the Western nations cautioned that the current escalation might scuttle talks on forming a transitional administration in Sudan led by civilians.

The diplomats highlighted that “it is time to enter into a definitive political accord that can deliver on the people of Sudan’s democratic aspirations.”

The mobilisation and countermobilization of forces is the result of disagreements over the integration process between military commander Abdul Fattah al-Burhan and the commander of the RSF, according to Khalifa Saddiq, a Sudanese professor at International Africa University in Khartoum who specialises in terrorism and extremist groups.

The RSF, according to Saddiq, wants to demonstrate both its military might and its capacity to sway Sudan’s political system.

According to him, the RSF is trying to persuade the army to accept its plan, but the army appears to be steadfast in its stance and quickly started to gather its soldiers as well, which fueled rising tensions.

The RSF and other armed formations are supposed to be incorporated into a single army, but the two military groupings were unable to reach an agreement on a timeline last month.

The army recommended a two-year integration process, according to attendees of a workshop on the army and security reforms. The RSF stated that they needed at least 10 years to finish the procedure.

The Sudanese army sent more forces to the region on Wednesday after hundreds of RSF soldiers arrived in Merowe, more than 400 kilometres north of Khartoum, without consulting military authorities. The army then demanded that the RSF troops leave the area immediately.

The conflict caused the two military institutions’ discussions on the integration process to be put on hold in Khartoum.

According to Saddiq, if the tension persists and leads to a military conflict, the situation in the nation might deteriorate, which would have a significant effect on the already precarious security, political, and economic position in the nation.

Shihab Ibrahim, a member of the civilian coalition Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC), attributed the country’s instability to components of former long-time president Omer al-Bashir, who he said is to responsible for the rising tension.

The fundamental reason for the recent tensions between the two military institutions, according to Ibrahim, is that the former administration has been provoking bloodshed between the army and the paramilitary organisation in recent days.

Political interests are at the basis of the differences between the two military organisations, according to Haj Hamed, a political science instructor at the Sudanese Institute for African and Asian Studies in Khartoum.

According to him, both sides have recently been accused of committing crimes against civilians, and a military conflict might result in further tragedies.

Hamed claimed that “both of them are already inculcated in a sizable number of crimes against humanity and other characteristics.” “They collaborate on many crimes and are allies in weapons. They aren’t battling each other, in my opinion.”

The presidential palace and other important Khartoum institutions have been surrounded by security and military tanks since the beginning of this week.