Sudan's paramilitaries form rival government

Sudan's paramilitaries have declared the formation of a rival government to the country's armed forces, two years into a war that has become the world's largest humanitarian crisis, reports BBC News. The leader of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Mohamed Hamdan ‘Hemedti’ Dagalo, said the group was ‘building the only realistic future for Sudan’. The announcement came as London hosted a high-level conference to mark the second anniversary of the conflict, where the UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy called for ‘a pathway to peace’. Fighting raged on, with the army saying it had bombed RSF positions outside the city of el-Fasher, forcing hundreds of thousands to flee the Zamzam refugee camp. Hemedti added that his government would provide essential services such as education and healthcare to not only RSF-controlled areas, but the whole country. More than 400 people have been killed in recent attacks by the RSF, according to the UN, citing ‘credible sources’. Two years into the war, both the army and RSF have been accused of war crimes, including genocide and mass sexual violence. During the international meeting on Tuesday, the UK promised an extra £120m worth of food and medical assistance, urging the world not to turn its back on Sudan. The conference also called for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, but the African Union has said it would not allow the country to be partitioned by the army and the RSF.

Former South African President Thabo Mbeki has conceded the world has failed Sudan through its paralysis, inaction, and, in some cases, complicity in aggravating the violence that is inflicting so much misery on the Sudanese people, reports News24. ‘Our efforts to respond to the conflict have lacked coherence and political clarity,’ he said. Mbeki's remarks were read last Tuesday at the 2025 London Conference on Sudan. Mbeki said since the war broke out between Sudan Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces in 2023, he has always held frequent virtual consultations with representatives of the Sudanese political parties, civil society leaders, and humanitarian actors. He said: ‘But even as we deliberate in London, the violence and devastation continue, with harrowing news of fresh atrocities, including in North Darfur. Therefore, this cannot be just another anniversary for wringing hands.’

'London must mark the beginning of a serious and sustained effort to silence the guns across Sudan, to meet the complex needs of a society reduced to the indignities of hunger and abject deprivation, and, most importantly, to catalyse a credible effort of peace-making that privileges the voices and agency of the Sudanese people,' said the former statesman. According to News24, he added the Sudanese, who invested their hopes in the multilateral system, with its long record of engagement in Sudan, had been bitterly disappointed and disturbed by its inability to muster credible leadership and leverage or to make its norms and peace-making capacities count in Sudan. 'Continued conflict is bleeding Sudan, deepening polarisation, imperiling the very survival of a nation. Meanwhile, militia rule is spreading, social cohesion is collapsing, even as civilians pay a heavy price from predations. Ending the violence must be our top priority.' Mbeki said that also meant leaders must urge the various regional and international enablers of Sudan's conflict to desist immediately. He said multilateral engagement should be reinvigorated under the auspices of the African Union, with close support from IGAD, the United Nations, and other stakeholders, to revive a tradition of inclusive Sudanese political dialogue.