Sudan’s army chief asked the UN on Thursday to recognise the Rapid Support Force (RSF) as a terrorist group.
Chairman of Sudan’s Sovereignty Council, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, speaking at the 78th session of the UN General Assembly in New York, said the RSF had attracted thousands of mercenaries during the five-month war. He said:
“I urge (the international community) to consider this group, the RSF, a terrorist group. We also documented that this group has brought thousands of mercenaries to fight with them, and this will lead to serious consequences in the region.”
He also criticised some regional and international countries for supporting the RSF, without naming them.
However, Burhan notes that within the framework of a national dialogue between political parties, the army is ready to negotiate.
RSF chief Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemedti, says he is ready to end the war and seek a peace settlement. In a rare video address to the UN on Thursday, Hemedti accused President Omar al-Bashir’s old regime of controlling the army. He also says jihadist groups are fighting Sudanese armed forces to bring back the old regime.
Since the war in Sudan began in April this year, more than 4 million people have been displaced from their homes, with thousands killed.
The Sudanese capital, Khartoum, has been engulfed by violence for weeks with fighting between the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group.
A disagreement had been fomenting in recent months between the army and RSF regarding the group’s integration into the armed forces, a key condition of Sudan’s transition agreement with political groups.
