RSF-led coalition announces parallel government in Sudan

A Sudanese coalition led by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) announced a parallel government on Saturday — a move fiercely opposed by the army that could push the country further towards partition as a two-year-old civil war rages on.

The government, led by RSF General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo — known as Hemedti — was declared in the west of the country.

The RSF and its allies signed a transitional constitution in March outlining a federal, secular state divided into eight regions.

The RSF controls much of western Sudan, including the vast Darfur region and several other areas, but is being pushed back from central Sudan by the army, which has recently regained control of the capital, Khartoum.

The military, headed by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, had condemned the RSF’s plans to form a parallel government and vowed to keep fighting until it controls the entirety of Sudan — a country long plagued by conflict, coups, poverty, and hunger.

In February, the RSF and allied rebel leaders agreed in Kenya to form a government for a “New Sudan”, aiming to challenge the army-led administration’s legitimacy and facilitate the import of advanced weaponry.

Dagalo — a former militia leader and one of Sudan’s wealthiest individuals — was sanctioned by the United States earlier this year, accused of genocide.

He had previously shared power with Burhan following the ousting of veteran autocrat Omar al-Bashir in 2019. However, a 2021 coup by the two forces removed civilian politicians, sparking a power struggle over troop integration during a planned transition to democracy.

Burhan was sanctioned by the US in January, accused of choosing war over negotiations to end the conflict, which has killed tens of thousands.

The ongoing conflict has devastated Sudan, creating an “unprecedented” humanitarian crisis, with half the population facing widespread hunger and famine, according to the United Nations.