Is Sudan War Between Army Generals?

Military rule has plagued the country since independence, despite the Sudanese people's peaceful overthrow of military regimes in 1964, 1985, and 2019 and their vow to never allow a dictatorship again.

What is taking place in the capital city reflects an accumulation of political, social, and economic grievances against the state. Under military or civilian rule, Northern and Central Sudanese elites have always been in charge of the state. To refer to it as a fight between two generals would be oversimplifying things.

The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) in their present condition, and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are products of the Islamist regime of Omer al-Bashir, who ruled Sudan for thirty years (1989-2019). They were meant to watch each other and protect his regime.

The RSF is an offshoot of the notorious Janjaweed Militia, formed in 2003 to quell a rebellion in Darfur against the central government. The SAF Air Force razed villages to the ground; the militia attacked the people on the ground. The main force behind the Janjaweed were the Arab pastoralists, who fought with the non-Arab Darfurian farmers for grazing resources.

The biggest losers in the conflict are the Sudanese people. BothThey committed atrocities in Darfur, the Nuba Mountains, and Blue Nile State. Since December 2018 and after Omer al-Bashir's fall in April 2019, they have killed many peaceful protesters. They massacred over 120 protesters at a sit-in on 3 June, 2019. They colluded on 25 October, 2021 to depose the military-civilian coalition.

African Argument's Mohamed Kheir Omer writes that the hopeful signs amid adversity are the resistance committees, the unsung heroes in Sudan. They are the grass-roots resistance committees that mobilized protesters and provided services to their local communities. After the outbreak of fighting, they formed various committees to let people know where to get water and help the vulnerable and needy. They guided those who wanted to leave the city on safe routes to take. Some have even established temporary health clinics to help those in dire need of treatment.