RSF leader accuses Egypt of attacking his troops
Port Sudan, Sudan (PANA) - The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which has been at war with the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) since April last year, has accused Egypt of providing direct assistance to its foes and said the West has turned a blind eye to the return of the Islamists to the country.
General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, leader of RSF, said Egyptian warplanes have bombarded positions of his troops, paving the way for the SAF to take over strategic areas and reverse the course of the war.
He said Sukhoi warplanes” have bombarded his troops in central Sudan, thus paving the way for the SAF to conduct land incursion and take over strategic areas linking several states.
“You were not defeated, you were outnumbered,” General Daglo told his troops in a recorded audiovisual statement, the first since the war started, indirectly conceding defeat in a major area in central Sudan.
He said it was time to name those involved in supporting the Sudanese army, which now has the upper hand in the field, retaking most of the national capital Khartoum, central Sudan and inflicting heavy losses on the RSF in Darfur. The SAF is now taking the initiative with top Generals boldly mixing with their troops in the field in Khartoum State and other areas around the country.
But General Daglo said it was thanks to assistance coming not only from Egypt, but also Iran and “some neighbours” which he did not name, though he mentioned the Tigray ethnic groups spread in Ethiopia and Eritrea.
He has also accused the US and the West in general of turning a blind eye and opening the way for the return of the pro-islamist and the members of the former regime, the National Congress Party to return to the scene in preparation for their involvement in the Sudanese political life once again, after their ouster in 2019.
“Without their (US and the West) consent, they (the Egyptians) would not be able to do this,” he said. This is the first time General Daglo, who was seen as a protégé for the West through the United Arab Emirates, has come out to attack the West and the United States.
He also blamed Western countries for implicating him in the war through brokering a document on power sharing and on dismantling the current Sudanese army. The document is known as The Framework Agreement.
It calls for replacing the current “ideologised” Army with a professional technical army with a national doctrine.
The Army was clearly against any civilian involvement in its affairs and certainly against knocking down its structure and replacing the RSF as its backbone.
“We did not have any problem with the Army before this Framework Agreement,” General Daglo said.
The framework agreement was reached over three years ago, under the close supervision and mentoring of US, and EU, the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS) with the full participation of the then Prime Minister, Dr Abdullah Hamdouk.
“If from the beginning your intention was to return the remnants (a derogatory name for the Islamists supporters of President Omar al-Bashir regime) then why involve us in this (war)?” Daglo said.
The US this week sanctioned Algoney Hamdan Daglo Musa, his brother and financial arm, accusing him of securing arms for the RSF and thus continuing the aggression against civilians in Darfur region.
A UN Fact finding mission, whose mandate was renewed on Wednesday for yet another year, has acccused the RSF of human rights abuses and war crimes, genocide and gender related violence although it has also blamed the SAF for abuses.
The Sudanese Army has meanwhile accused the United Arab Emirates of involvement in the war by providing military and logistical assistance to RSF.
Chadian President Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno has meanwhile come out publicly in a televised statement asking his countrymen to “keep away from involvement in what was going on in the Sudan”.
“Don’t bring that home, they are fighting each other, we will not be with any of them, and by God don’t bring that to us here,” he said. He mentioned the tribal and ethnic continuum between Sudan and Chad.
The Sudanese army had been warning that Chadian territory was being used by the UAE to provide logistical support, evacuate the injured and furnish arms for the RSF. It also said Chadian territory was being used to send in manpower reinforcement for the RSF.
General Daglo has, meanwhile, vowed to come back and retake all areas the SAF was now advancing in. “We are only gathering our forces and we will take back all those areas.”
The war has driven millions of Sudanese out of their home areas and rendered them refugees their own country. Over two million are believed to have moved to Egypt, benefiting from joint free movement protocols between the two countries, with a tiny portion registering as refugees.
-0- PANA MA 10Oct2024
