Accusations of hiring mercenaries from South Sudan to take part in the war in Sudan are threatening fragile ties between the two countries.
Khartoum alleges that Juba is complicit in allowing its citizens to join the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), commonly referred to as Janjaweed because it is an offshoot of the previous forced of deadly warriors who rode on horses in the Darfur war in the early 2000s.
This development comes after the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) said they had captured “foreign mercenaries” in Omdurman, west of the capital Khartoum, during intense battles to retake the state broadcaster’s headquarters.
Gen Yasir al-Atta, Sudan’s Assistant Commander-in-Chief, announced in a speech to soldiers of the 4th Infantry Division that the majority of the RSF comprises foreign mercenaries.
He claimed that 65 percent of these forces hail from South Sudan, alongside fighters from Chad, Libya, Ethiopia, Central Africa, and other nations such as Colombia, Russia (Wagner ) and Syria.
Commanders of the RSF account for no more than 5 percent of its leadership, he claimed.
Gen Al-Atta highlighted Sudan’s repeated communications with officials in Juba over the past two years regarding the involvement of South Sudanese opposition figures in the RSF. But he expressed regret that Juba had taken no steps to condemn or address these violations.
Sudan last December accused Colombia of sending mercenaries, an accusation the South American country refuted and offered to cooperate in investigations.
Colombian Foreign Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo called his Sudanese counterpart, Ali Yusuf, to express his regret after which Colombia’s ambassador to Egypt, Ann Milena, formally apologised to Khartoum.
For South Sudan and Sudan, these revelations are tricky, coming after a series of revenge attacks in Juba and other towns as the public angrily reacted to a video of gory killings circulated on social media. The video showed men who wore SAF fatigues torturing refugees believed to be South Sudanese.
The ensuing revenge violence that led to 19 deaths calmed down only on the intervention of President Salva Kiir, who condemned the killings in Sudan and urged calm.
Later, Sudan offered to investigate the killings in Wa Madani neighbourhood in Gezira State, where SAF had just won back the territory from RSF.
A committee was launched under the leadership of Malik Agar, Vice President of Sudan’s Transitional Sovereignty Council, but South Sudan’s Information Minister, Michael Makuei and other officials have since called for the inclusion of senior South Sudanese representatives as well as African Union (AU) and Igad representatives, to ensure transparency in the investigation.
South Sudan and Sudan, initially one country, have lived to host each other's refugees, in spite of unfinished political processes such as border demarcations.
Before April 2023, Sudan hosted the largest number of South Sudanese refugees, following a civil war that broke out immediately after South Sudan seceded in 2011.
But, after April 2023, the tide turned, as more Sudanese refugees and South Sudan returnees fled back to South Sudan. As such, they have significant nationals of each other on their territories, with some settled and doing business.
The violence in Sudan has threatened to ruin the social cohesion between them.
The two countries had often covered up unresolved disputes over border demarcation and support for armed groups that had persisted since South Sudan gained independence in 2011.
They had even signed cooperation agreements, and SAF had earlier expressed confidence in South Sudan to help mediate the current conflict.
Juba had mediated Sudan’s talks with armed groups just after Omar al-Bashir was toppled in 2019.
Yet mutual distrust continues. Gen al-Atta, who has often accused Sudan’s other neighbours of interference during this war, blames RSF of for horrific crimes, including burying civilians alive and rape. Both SAF and RSF have since been sanctioned by the US government for committing war crimes and genocide.
Gen al-Atta’s speech was also about protesting against “exaggeration of isolated incidents,” while emphasising the importance of unity of the Sudanese people.
The Sudanese army, meanwhile, has continued to share videos it says are evidence of captured fighters from South Sudan and Chad, who were allegedly aligned with the RSF.
In March 2024, Sudanese forces regained control of the state television and radio headquarters in Omdurman, which had been under RSF control since the war erupted in April.
Al-Atta also implicated external factors such as the United Arab Emirates, in supporting the RSF, shedding light on the cross-continental dimensions of the conflict. The UAE refuted the claims, again.
Subscribe to continue reading this premium articleSubscribe to continue reading this premium article
