Sudanese paramilitary leader Mohamed Hamdane Daglo announced the formation of a rival government on Tuesday as Sudan's civil war entered its third year.
Daglo declared the creation of a “government of peace and unity” on Telegram, including plans for a new currency and new identity cards.
In a six-page document seen by French news agency AFP, Daglo, also known as “Hemedti, said this was not “a parallel state” but “the only viable future for the country.”
He said his rival government would provide essential services – education, healthcare, and justice – throughout Sudan, revitalize the economy, and issue new identity documents.
Sudan's instability takes a toll on civilians
Sudan has been engulfed since 15 April 2023 in a bloody conflict between the army, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane, and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), commanded by Daglo, Burhane’s former deputy. After occupying the capital, Khartoum, for months, the RSF withdrew in March, abandoning the presidential palace and airport.
The war has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths, displaced millions and caused extreme famine in some parts of the country.
Attacks against civilian communities have been common. In one of the latest, RSF forces seized control of a camp for displaced persons in Zamzam, in the western region of Darfur, on Sunday after a four-day assault that the government and aid groups have said left hundreds dead or wounded.
The United Nations said on Monday that preliminary figures from local sources show that more than 300 civilians were killed in fighting on Friday and Saturday around the Zamzam and Abu Shouk displacement camps and the town of al-Fashir in North Darfur.
AU warns of 'risk of partition'
The RSF and their allies had signed a “founding charter” for a parallel government in Nairobi in late February, leading the African Union to warn, in early March, of a “significant risk of partition” if this government was established.
The Sudanese government, backed by the army, condemned the initiative as a “dangerous precedent” violating international law and criticised Kenya for its “irresponsible” support of the rebels.
During the political transition that followed the ousting of Sudanese President Omar el-Béchir in 2019, Burhane and Daglo had formed a temporary alliance to remove civilian officials but eventually clashed over integrating the paramilitaries into the army, leading to open warfare.
