Sudan's military warns of conflict after rival force deploys in Khartoum
Army says the deployment of Rapid Support Forces in the capital “stirred up panic and fear among people" and exacerbated security risks while increasing tensions with regular forces.
Sudan has plunged into chaos since a 2021 military coup removed a western-backed, power-sharing administration.
Sudan’s military has warned of potential clashes with the country’s powerful paramilitary force, which it said deployed troops in the capital and other cities.
Tensions between the military and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have escalated in recent months, forcing a delay in the signing of an internationally-backed deal with political parties to restore the country’s democratic transition.
In a statement on Thursday, the military said the buildup of the RSF in Khartoum and elsewhere in the country has come without “the approval of, or coordination with" the armed forces leadership.
It said the RSF measures “have stirred up panic and fear among people, exacerbated security risks, and increased tensions between regular forces.”
The military said it has attempted to “find peaceful solutions to such violations” to prevent an armed conflict with the RSF.
The military’s statement came as the RSF deployed troops in the Northern Province on the border with Egypt.
Sudanese media reported that the paramilitary force has attempted to build a military base there.
The RSF said its deployment across the country aims at “achieving security and stability and fighting human trafficking and illegal migration.”
READ MORE: Sudan's military warns of RSF deployment in Khartoum, other cities
#BREAKING: Sudan's army warns of movement by Rapid Support Forces or RSF, country's largest paramilitary group, says "mobilisation of forces" by RSF in capital Khartoum and other cities is a clear violation of law pic.twitter.com/HzXXwTu96F
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Recent tensions are rooted in the integration of the RSF into the military.
The RSF, led by powerful General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, grew out of former militias that executed a brutal crackdown in Sudan’s Darfur region over the past two decades.
Sudan has plunged into chaos since a 2021 military coup removed a Western-backed, power-sharing administration and dashed Sudanese aspirations for democratic rule.
A months-long popular uprising forced the military’s overthrow of President Omar al Bashir and his government in April 2019.
Since then, the former president, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court over the Darfur conflict, has been imprisoned in Khartoum.
READ MORE: Death toll from tribal clashes in Sudan's Darfur rises
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