Khair, founder of think tank Confluence Advisory based in Khartoum, Sudan, said “It’s this shift in power that is causing conversations about security sector reform and integration of the RSF to end in armed conflict rather than heated debate around the table.”
The RSF was formed in 2013 and grew out of the so-called Janjaweed militia, which are accused of war crimes in the Darfur region.
During the Darfur conflict in the 2000s, the Sudanese government used the group to help the army put down an insurgency. In 2017, legislation legitimizing the RSF as an independent security force was passed.
“As he rose to prominence, [Dagalo’s] business interests grew with help from al-Bashir, and his family expanded holdings in gold mining, ranching and infrastructure,” Foreign and Security Policy Program Director in the Middle East of the Global Affairs Council Adel Abdel Ghafar told Al Jazeera, quoted by Jabar Ekspres.com.
Though a longtime ally of al-Bashir, Dagalo took part in overthrowing the president during the uprising that broke out in 2019.
Sudan is bordered by the Red Sea, the Sahel region, and the Horn of Africa. Its strategic location and agricultural wealth have attracted regional power play, complicating the chances of a successful transition.
Several of Sudan’s neighbors, including Ethiopia, Chad and South Sudan, have been affected by the political upheaval and conflict. Sudan’s relations with Ethiopia are strained over disputed agricultural land along their border; the conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, which is driving tens of thousands of refugees to Sudan; and the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.
Regional heavyweights Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which forged close ties with the RSF when it sent thousands of fighters to support the war in Yemen, have called for both sides to stand down.
They, the United States and the United Kingdom formed the “Quad”, which is sponsoring mediation in Sudan along with the United Nations and the African Union.
