This is an explainer of the Ongoing Sudan crisis. So first let us understand the geographical position of Sudan in the World Map. Sudan is strategically located near the Red Sea in Northeast Africa and is the third-largest African Nation. It is also one of the poorest countries in the world. The bordering countries are Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Libya, South Sudan, the Central African Republic, and Chad. Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, is located roughly in the center of the country, at the junction of the Blue Nile and White Nile rivers. It is part of the largest urban area. Recently an intense clash broke out in Khartoum between Sudan’s military and paramilitary force. The violence has claimed the lives of hundreds of people, and thousands became refugees. The ongoing crisis in Sudan has repercussions beyond borders. In this context, let's look into the happenings in Sudan and the reason behind it. In order to understand the issue properly, we should have a brief idea about the history of the country.
History of Sudan
Sudan was under British and Egyptian Colonial Rule. It became independent in 1956 and has had numerous changes in government since then including military coups in 1985, 1989, and 2019.
1955-1972: First civil war
Sudan‘s first civil war broke out several months before independence on 1 January, 1956 and lasted until 1972. The 17-year conflict ended with a treaty signed in neighboring Ethiopia, under which the president granted autonomy to the south. This is called the Addis Ababa Agreement of 1972. It ended the conflict only temporarily, and in 1983 the civil war again started. The 11 years of relative peace collapsed when President Jaafar Nimeiri decided to revoke the south’s autonomous status, enforce Islamic sharia law, and crush southern troops.
1983-2005: Second civil war
By this time the comparative lack of economic development in the south had become a new source of regional grievance, and northern leaders’ continued to Islamize the Sudanese legal system which became another source of discord. In 1983, the rebels of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement led by John Garang, rose up to change the Islamist rulers in Khartoum into a secular, democratic “New Sudan”. In 1989, Omar al-Bashir, an Islamist, took power in a coup and cracked down on the southern rebellion. Southern guerrillas also fought within themselves, with one faction fighting for the South to break away. Northern rebels also battled the government in Eastern Sudan, Blue Nile, and the Nuba Mountains. Attempts to end the civil war included numerous discussions, cease-fires, and agreements but yielded very little success until 2005.
Some sources estimate as many as two million people were killed and another four million displaced in the 22-year war. The war ended on 9 January 2005, when Garang signed a peace accord with Bashir’s government. This peace accord was mediated by Kenya. The cornerstone of the accord was a protocol exempting the south from sharia law and granting it six years of self-rule ahead of a 2011 referendum on whether to remain part of Sudan or secede. And on 9th July 2011, Oil-rich South Sudan proclaimed independence, splitting Africa’s biggest country into two. As South Sudan separated, conflict resumed in the Nuba Mountains and the Blue Nile in areas held by former guerrillas, now called the SPLM-North.
2003-2020: Darfur war
Another important crisis in the history of Sudan is the war in Darfur, also nicknamed the Land Cruiser War. It was a major armed conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan that began in February 2003 when the Sudan Liberation Movement and the Justice and Equality Movement rebel groups began fighting against the government of Sudan. The non-Arab groups rose up against the government in Khartoum, alleging racial discrimination, marginalization, and exclusion.
Khartoum responded by unleashing the Janjaweed, a savage militia group of nomadic Arab raiders who attacked Darfuri villages on camel and horseback alongside regular soldiers. In the first five years, the conflict claimed 3 lakhs of lives from direct combat as well as disease and malnutrition, according to the United Nations. Around 2.5 million were displaced. The International Criminal Court in The Hague in 2009 and 2010 issued arrest warrants for President Bashir for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide committed in Darfur. On 31 August 2020, the government and most rebel groups agreed a landmark peace deal, but sporadic clashes continue.
Background of the recent crisis
Sudan began its halting transition towards democracy after military generals removed President Omar al-Bashir in April 2019. Al-Bashir had presided over the country for nearly 30 years. After Bashir’s removal, civilians continued to demand democratic elections and a civilian-led government. later that year, the military and an alliance of civilian groups known as the Forces for Freedom and Change signed a constitutional declaration that outlined a power-sharing agreement between the two sides and provided a road map for governing the country until a democratically elected government could be installed.
The council consists of both military officers and civilians and is tasked with leading Sudan to elections in 2023, with Abdalla Hamdok as the Prime Minister for the transitional period. Under the constitutional declaration, a transitional Sovereignty Council composed of five military and six civilian members was established. A military general was chosen to lead the council for the first 21 months, after which a civilian would lead. A legislative assembly of no more than 300 members was provided for but not immediately formed. This arrangement was abruptly halted by a coup in October 2021 which led to he dissolution of the Sovereignty Council. The military formed a new Sovereignty Council, led by a general, that later reinstated the previous prime minister but did not include any FFC members and was not supported by them or many other civilian groups and political parties. It triggered new mass pro-democracy rallies across Sudan.
Reason of recent crisis
The military overthrew Hamdok’s government in October 2021, and General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan became the de-facto leader of the country, announcing that the military would hold power until elections are held in July 2023. This led to renewed protests, and tensions between the army and the RSF, Since mid-April, the conflict has caused heavy fighting in Khartoum as well as renewed conflict in Darfur. There was disagreement over how the RSF should be integrated into the army, and which authority should oversee that process.
How did the military rivalries develop?
RSF was founded by Bashir to crush a rebellion in Darfur that began more than 20 years ago due to the political and economic marginalisation of the local people by Sudan’s central government. The RSF was also known by the name of Janjaweed, which became associated with widespread atrocities. In 2007, its troops became part of the country’s intelligence services. In 2013, Bashir transformed the Janjaweed into a semi-organised paramilitary force overseen by him and led by Dagalo and gave their leaders military ranks before deploying them to crush a rebellion in South Darfur and then dispatching many to fight in the war in Yemen, and later Libya.
Dagalo turned against Bashir in 2019, The RSF, led by Dagalo, and the regular military forces under Burhan cooperated to oust Bashir in 2019. But tensions increased over the demand for the RSF’s integration into the Sudanese military. In April 2023, Dagalo mobilized the RSF against al-Burhan’s government. The fighting broke out in Sudan’s capital on April 15 and quickly escalated to other parts of the country.
Two men at the center of the dispute
At the heart of the clashes are two men: Sudan’s military leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the commander of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. Until recently, they were allies. The pair worked together to topple ousted Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir in 2019 and played a pivotal role in the military coup in 2021. However, tensions arose during negotiations to integrate the RSF into the country’s military as part of plans to restore civilian rule. The key question- who would be subordinate to whom under the new hierarchy.
Current Scenario
Intense clashes between Sudan’s military and the country’s main paramilitary force have killed hundreds of people and sent thousands fleeing for safety creating political, economic and humanitarian concerns as civil war threatens to destabilise the wider region. The clashes erupted in the middle of April amid an apparent power struggle between the two main factions of the military regime.
The ongoing conflict between the army and the RSF is a significant setback to Sudan’s transition to democracy. The violence has claimed the lives of hundreds of people, including innocent civilians like Indian national Albert Augustine. Some experts fear that the conflict could escalate into a wider conflict leading to the country’s collapse. As international pressure mounts on the warring parties to end the hostilities, the world waits to see if Sudan can find a peaceful path forward
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