No diplomatic solution to situation with RSF: Sudan military
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The Sudanese army underlines that a diplomatic solution is not likely to happen in light of the latest round of clashes with the Rapid Support Forces.
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Residential buildings damaged in fighting are seen in Khartoum, Sudan, April 20, 2023 (AP)
The Sudanese Armed Forces see no options for diplomacy prevailing in light of the clashes taking place in the country with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Armed Forces spokesperson Brigadier General Nabil Abdallah told Russian news agency Sputnik on Thursday.
Violent clashes between the Sudanese regular army and the RSF broke out on Saturday, with the epicenter located in Khartoum.
While promises were made and concessions extracted, the troops of both the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) surrounded each other ready for combat, and any chance for dialogue was squandered as the two parties fell into fierce fighting on Saturday.
Read next: NYT: How Sudan devolved into war
"A diplomatic solution is one of the ways to settle situations between states, and we are talking about rebel gangs outside the law," Abdallah said, answering the question of whether it was possible for a diplomatic solution to the current situation.
The Sudanese military will not allow the development of the "Libyan scenario" in the country, the spokesman underlined.
"We will never allow our country to regress into any situation similar to any such scenario happening anywhere," Abdallah said upon being asked if the country would be divided between different opposing forces as happened in Libya in light of the NATO-led war on the country more than a decade ago.
No one in control
He revealed that neither party has full control over any particular area.
"The armed forces control all headquarters. A number of RSF fighters, who were unable to escape, are inside cities and neighborhoods, using citizens as human shields," the spokesperson said.
"Their fighters are engaged in looting and terrorizing citizens, but they do not have absolute control over any of the sites," he added
Moreover, Abdallah said the armed forces of Sudan were interested in transferring power under civilian control as soon as possible. "We are again focusing on this in accordance with the will of the people."
Check out: What is happening in Sudan?
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged the sides to commit to a ceasefire, expressing his disappointment that the UN-brokered ceasefire aimed at providing safe humanitarian corridors was only "partially" honored on Sunday.
The US joined the UN calling for an immediate ceasefire without preconditions between the two armed groups, White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby stated on Monday.
The official urged Americans currently present in Sudan to treat the situation with utmost concern, adding that there are no current plans for the evacuation of US citizens from the country at this time.
Read next: UN evacuates staffers from Sudan amid fierce infighting
Exchanging the blame
According to the army's spokesperson, the RSF was the first to start fighting, and the Sudanese armed forces had their hand forced into reacting.
"The armed forces have constantly stated that the RSF are a rebellious force operating outside the law and committing atrocities that cannot be overlooked," he said.
"They started fighting and were preparing for it from the very beginning. We were forced to resolve the issue by military means and announced that this would stop the shooting," the military official added.
Abdallah further noted that the RSF had suffered heavy losses during the fighting with the armed forces.
"I cannot say for sure about the number of losses yet, it is logical when conducting combat operations. But we have confirmation, as well as observations, that the RSF suffered heavy losses and there is obvious destruction of civilian buildings and structures," he said.
This comes after the Financial Times reported earlier in the day that Sudan's battling generals branded each other "criminals" for civilian deaths.
Sudan's vice president and commander of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti), accused his opponent of leading a "radical Islamist gang" seeking to establish a military dictatorship while accusing the country's armed forces of targeting hospitals and non-military targets.
"We're ready for him to hit us, but not the civilians," Dagalo, told the Financial Times from Khartoum. "We ask God that we gain control and arrest him to hand him over to justice."
Separately, his opponent Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, the head of the Sudanese Armed Forces and the country’s de facto president, accused RSF forces of indiscriminate violence. “A large part of [Hemedti’s] forces is out of control,” he said, adding that they were responsible for widespread looting in Khartoum and the western Darfur region.
Burhan and Hemedti were once allies who banded together in 2019 to depose Omar al-Bashir, who had ruled Sudan for 30 years. Since then, and particularly after the 2021 putsch that resulted in the removal of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, they have formed an uneasy alliance, with both parties participating in on-again, off-again talks with civilian leaders ostensibly aimed at steering the country towards democracy.
