Sudan’s army chief threatens to use fatal force against paramilitary RSF

KHARTOUM, Sudan

Sudan’s army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan on Tuesday threatened to use fatal force against the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group.

The army general visited forces stationed in a number of locations in the capital Khartoum.

“The army is fighting on behalf of its people and has not yet used its fatal full force, but may be forced to do so if the enemy refuses to obey or listen to the voice of reason,” al-Burhan said in statements cited by a Defense Ministry statement.

He praised “the people of Sudan for standing by the army despite the suffering for nearly two months,” the statement said.

At least 863 civilians have been killed and thousands injured in clashes between the army and the RSF since April 15, according to local medics.

A 7-day cease-fire brokered by Saudi Arabia and the US between the two warring rivals expired on Monday, but they agreed to extend the agreement for five more days.

The extension of the cease-fire deal “was agreed upon to ease services to the people who have been exhausted by the violations of the rebel militia that looted their properties and violated their honors and tortured and killed without reason of conscience,” al-Burhan said.

A disagreement had been fomenting in recent months between the army and the RSF over the paramilitary group’s integration into the armed forces, a key condition of Sudan's transition agreement with political groups.

Sudan has been without a functioning government since October 2021 when the military dismissed Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok's transitional government and declared a state of emergency in a move decried by political forces as a "coup."

Sudan's transitional period, which started in August 2019 after the ouster of President Omar al-Bashir, had been scheduled to end with elections in early 2024.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi in Ankara