Sudan paramilitaries announce parallel government, deepening country's crisis

CAIRO -- A notorious paramilitary group and its allies in Sudan said they formed a parallel government in areas under the group’s control, which are located mainly in the western region of Darfur where allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity are being investigated.

The move, which was announced Saturday, was likely to deepen the crisis in Sudan, which plunged into chaos when tensions between the country’s military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, exploded into fighting in April 2023 in the capital, Khartoum and elsewhere in the country.

The RSF-led Tasis Alliance appointed Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the commander of the paramilitary group, as head of the sovereign council in the new administration. The 15-member council serves as head of the state.

The RSF grew out of the notorious Janjaweed militias, mobilized two decades ago by then-president Omar al-Bashir against populations that identify as Central or East African in Darfur. The Janjaweed were accused of mass killings, rapes and other atrocities.

In the current war, the RSF has been accused of numerous atrocities. The Biden administration slapped Dagalo with sanctions, saying the RSF and its proxies were committing genocide. The RSF has denied committing genocide.

The alliance spokesman Alaa al-Din Naqd announced the new administration in a video statement from the Darfur city of Nyala, which is controlled by the RFF and its allied Janjaweed.

Mohammed Hassan al-Taishi, a civilian politician who was a member of a military-civilian sovereign council that ruled Sudan following the 2019 overthrow of al-Bashir, was named as prime minister in the RSF-controlled government.

Rebel leader Abdelaziz al-Hilu, who commands the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) which is active in the southern Kodrofan region, was appointed as Dagalo’s deputy in the council. The SPLM-N is a breakaway faction of the SPLM, the ruling party of neighboring South Sudan.

The announcement came five months after the RSF and its allies signed a charter in February in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, with the aim of establishing a parallel government in RSF-controlled areas.

At the time, many countries, including the U.S., rejected the RSF efforts and condemned the signing by the paramilitary group and its allies of what they called “transitional constitution” in the Kenya-hosted conference.

The foreign ministry of the internationally recognized government in Khartoum condemned the announcement in a statement. It called it a “fake government” and urged the international community to not engage with the RSF-led administration.

The RSF-led move was likely to deepen the division in Sudan. Yasir Arman, a rebel leader, said the move is likely to prolong the conflict and divide Sudan between two rival administrations — similar to neighboring Libya.