The continued bloodshed in Sudan may require the backing of an international peacekeeping mission, according to analysts following the situation. Following numerous unsuccessful cease-fire attempts and talks supported by Saudi Arabia and the United States, that assessment was made.
Hala Alkarib, the regional director for the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa, has resided in Khartoum for the past two weeks. But because of the horrors brought on by the ongoing war, such as looting, she and other coworkers were forced to relocate.
Alkarib estimated that at least 75% of Khartoum’s population had experienced looting. Our vehicles, personal belongings, paperwork, and documents were all destroyed or burned in addition to our entirely robbed residences.
She claimed that the General Hamdan Dagalo-led Rapid Support Forces’ approach was nothing new.
The RSF approach is to conduct a war from within and within civilian residences, according to Alkarib. “The presence on the ground inside residential areas, whether in Khartoum, Al Fasher, Nyala, or [El] Geneina,” he added. “The RSF are the Janjaweed’s branch. In rural Darfur, where communities were frightened and infrastructure was totally devastated, it has been practiced for more than 20 years.
Alkarib holds the General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan-led Sudanese Armed Forces responsible for allowing the RSF to thrive.
“Unfortunately, the SAF were complacent and allowed this criminal organization to grow to the point that it actually threatens the existence of overall Sudan as a state. They were kind of relying on the RSF to do their dirty work for years.”
She remarked that it is regrettable that the international community is not applying enough pressure to nations that could aid in putting an end to the war.
According to Alkarib, 75% of the reasons for this war are not related to Sudan. “UAE [United Arab Emirates] and their significant support to the RSF and Egypt and their position – anti- any type of democratic governance in Sudan and that constantly put them in a position where they support SAF as potential rulers,” said a source.
Dr. Edgar Githua, a lecturer at Strathmore University and the United States International University, partially mirrored his sentiment.
The African Union and the rest of the world need to take action in response to this crisis and tell Russia to withdraw the Wagner group, according to Githua. Egypt is a simpler group to work with because the US has significant leverage over Egypt. In Libya, it is possible to order both Khalifa Haftar and the UAE to desist.
Some of the stated nations sought to mediate the situation while denying taking part in the conflict. Githua argued that greater participation from the international community was necessary.
They are returning to the battlefield with renewed zeal, and at some time, the world will be forced to intervene. In my opinion, this will involve a peacekeeping force that establishes a humanitarian corridor in an effort to merely try to restore normalcy.
The recent attempt by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, or IGAD, to mediate the crisis also failed because one of the generals said he didn’t want the Kenyan president leading the group that is made up of South Sudan, Djibouti, Ethiopia, and Somalia. The Jeddah talks, which are supervised by the United States and Saudi Arabia, were recently suspended.
This is a concern, according to Macharia Munene, a history and international relations professor at USIU in Nairobi.
“One of the generals, Burhan, has said he doesn’t want anything to do with him, so he’s going nowhere,” Munene declared. “He favors Salva Kiir, a prominent politician in South Sudan. Yes, the squad is an IGAD team, and he is meant to be the team leader, but something is amiss if one of the participants—a significant player—doesn’t want anything to do with his being the team leader.
Fighting is still going strong as of right now.
