Militants in Sudan attacked five UN convoy delivering food to the civilians in Darfur. The attack marks one of the several attacks targeting UN relief efforts to the civilians in Sudan. Ongoing civil war in Sudan between Sudan Military and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has resulted in acute starvation and humanitarian crisis in the Northeast African country.
As per reports, the 15 truck convoy were carrying essential food supplies from the Port Sudan to Darfur. The trucks were ambushed by unknown militants overnight and attacked. At least five people have been killed in the attack while several others injured.
The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Programme (WFP) gave a joint statement, ““Five members of the convoy were killed and several more people were injured. Multiple trucks were burned, and critical humanitarian supplies were damaged,”
As of now, Sudan Military and Rapid Support Forces are blaming each other for the ambush. Attack on the Convoy happened near the town of al-Koma which is a RSF controlled territory.
SUDAN CIVIL WAR :
Sudan Civil War is a power struggle between two opposing military forces. Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese army. Both the factions have killed thousands of civilians during the course of the war while Khartoum, Sudan’s capital have been turned to a battle field. Hundreds have fled or died in the capital as both armed groups launch assaults and drone strikes on Khartoum.
Sudan Army : After the ousting of former Sudan dictator Al-Bashir in 2019 through a coup orchestrated together by the Sudan Army and the RSF forces, a transition government was put in place. Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok was made the Prime Minister of this civilian-led government under the supervision of General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.
As per the agreement signed on 2019 between the Sudan Army and Civilian forces, the transition government will pave the way for elections to be held after 39 months, that is around 2023. However, in 2021, the Sudan army under General Burhan fearing the loss of power to the Civilian government staged a coup and removed the Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok. Sudan was then put under military rule while the RSF watched the situation closely.
Following pressure from the international forces like the African Union and UN, the Sudan Military signed another agreement in 2022 to return power to the civilians. But the Sudan Army wanted to integrate the paramilitary faction called the RSF into its fold. This was to happen in two years according to the 2022 agreement backed by the UN and the African Union. RSF under its leader General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo facing an existential threat demanded a 10 year period for this integration. This triggered a full scale civil war between the two military groups that started in April 2023.
Rapid Support Forces (RSF): A paramilitary faction of Sudan that evolved from the notorious militant group Janjaweed Militia consisting of mostly Ethnic Arab Muslims. Janjaweed Militants were used by Dictator Al-Bashir to supress rebellions of Ethnic African Muslims during the period 2003-2005.This group committed mass killings, rapes of the African Masalit Tribes in the West Darfur which the UN claimed as genocidal.
International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Al Bashir in July 12, 2010 for genocide. Later in 2013, these Janjaweed Militants were formally re-orgonized as the RSF or the Rapid Paramilitary Force by the dictator Al-Bashir. In 2017, RSF was given more power and declared as an independent security force.
Meanwhile, General Burhan with the help of a constitutional decree appointed Kamil Idris as the Prime Minister. The oath of office was taken in the presence of Secretary-General of the Sovereign Council Lieutenant General Mohamed Al-Ghali Ali Youssef. Sudanese Army has made significant territorial gains around the Khartoum region recently. However, vast swathe of lands in the Southern and Western Sudan still remain under the control of the RSF.
