Darfur rebels join Sudanese army in fight against RSF
Two rebel groups from Sudan’s Darfur region have declared their intent to join forces with the army in the country’s civil war.
This announcement follows the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces’ significant advancements in Darfur, where accusations of ethnic cleansing have surfaced against them.
Rebel leader Gibril Ibrahim detailed to BBC Newsday their determination to protect civilians from the alleged atrocities committed by the RSF, including reports of people being buried alive.
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The decision to align with the army was conveyed as a difficult but necessary choice, taking seven months of negotiations to solidify an agreement, given the longstanding and contentious history between Jem and the Sudanese army.
Notably, Mr. Ibrahim’s brother, the former leader of the Justice and Equality Movement (Jem), had been killed by the army.
The conflict in Darfur escalated in 2003, when Jem and the Sudanese Liberation Movement (SLM) took up arms, citing the government’s marginalization of the region’s black African communities.
This ignited a series of events leading to what has been described as the 21st Century’s inaugural genocide, as the government mobilized Arab militias against the rebels.
These militias have subsequently evolved into the RSF, engaging in a battle for control of the country with the army since April.
The RSF’s recent territorial gains in Darfur, including capturing the country’s second-largest city, Nyala, spotlight the escalating conflict.
Reports also surfaced of alleged RSF involvement in the mass killing of hundreds of individuals in the West Darfur capital of El Geneina, a claim refuted by the RSF as being part of a “tribal conflict.”
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