Sudan: The Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC) – Statement (16.04.2023)

Today, the battles that broke out since yesterday morning in various parts of the country between the Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces continue, and their pace is escalating in a way that threatens the unity, cohesion and sovereignty of the homeland.

We in the Forces for Freedom and Change have been sounding the alarm about the plans of the remnants of the defunct National Congress regime to drag the country into a war that will not leave or leave, with the aim of blocking the road to restoring the path of civil democratic transition, and here are their plans clearly revealed after igniting the fuse of the battle, to make it clear that they are the party that mobilized for this war and they are the ones who hope to harvest its results.

We call on the leadership of the Sudanese Armed Forces and the leadership of the Rapid Support Forces to arbitrate the voice of wisdom, stop military confrontations immediately, and return to the negotiating tables. The outstanding issues cannot be resolved by war, and the best option for our country is to address them peacefully through political solutions.

We also call on the masses of our people to confront the plans of the remnants of the defunct National Congress regime and not to allow them to be passed under any cover whatsoever, and to abandon hate speech, incitement and fueling war.

May God protect Sudan and its people from all evil

Freedom and Change Forces – Executive Office

April 16, 2023 AD

Sudan: 11 Union Bodies – Joint Statement (15.04.2023)

Our country stands today at a crossroads. After the setback of its promising revolution, its headline has become the security breakdown and arbitrary killing in several villages and cities, especially in the region of Darfur.

This has been accompanied by the country’s descent into open military confrontations between the army and the Rapid Support Forces, a war that will lead the country to chaos and threaten its existence if we do not stand firm against it and contain it.

The national capital, Khartoum, woke up this morning, Saturday, April 15, to the sound of gunfire and the buzzing of planes, and reports of civilian casualties. This imminent danger requires that those concerned call for a ceasefire from both sides and appeal to reason to stand firmly against the destructive plans that aim to abort the glorious revolution project and its ambition to transform the country into a democratic civil state of freedom, peace, and justice.

The phenomenon of deteriorating security began decades ago in the state of Darfur, South Kordofan, and the Blue Nile, and it would not have started at all if it were not for the Muslim Brotherhood coup and its insistence on tearing the country apart and humiliating its peaceful citizens. Now, this phenomenon has extended beyond that geographical scope to spread throughout the country.

The recent clashes in the Marawi area in the Northern State witnessed sharp tensions, leading to military confrontations due to the competition between the army and the Rapid Support Forces. These have been fueled by the surrounding regional influences that have become evident in the Sudanese scene, with the intervention of elements of the ousted regime through media mobilisation and work, apparent and hidden, to spread the message of hate.

This ongoing crisis is the result of the desire of many parties to maintain their dubious interests within Sudan. In Darfur alone, and during the past week, with the participation of cross-border groups, the region of Forbaranga was attacked, where 25 people were killed and thousands were displaced in addition to dozens of injuries. The region of Kundube in West Darfur witnessed the killing of six people. In North Darfur state, an armed militia attacked the area of Luwabid, 40 km from El Fasher, the capital of the state, where a bank vehicle was attacked, four employees were killed and the money (salaries) was seized, in addition to other incidents.

Sensing the national and moral responsibility, and what the national conscience dictates in this critical historical situation that the country is going through, many union bodies met in the headquarters of the Sudanese Journalists’ Union in Khartoum and agreed to confront attempts to create sedition and destabilise the country, and to stand against war, security breakdown, and impunity, hoping to take serious steps through which the voice of reason and wisdom prevails, and to defuse the crises and conflicts that have escalated.

Efforts will continue to discuss the crises, produce solutions, and call on all unions and civil bodies to undertake their role and participate in the responsibility of stopping the war and security breakdown.

Signed union bodies:

1.Sudanese Journalists’ Union

2.Steering Committee of the Sudanese Bar Association

3.Bahri Industrial Zone committees

4.Sudan Unions Solidarity

5.The Preparatory Committee of the Union of Professors at Sudan University of Science and Technology

6.The Steering Committee for the Federation of Sudanese Engineers

7.Sudanese Teachers Committee

8.Sudanese Writers’ Union

9.The Preparatory Committee of the Pharmacists Union – Khartoum State

10.Darfur Lawyers Association

11.The University of Khartoum Teaching Staff Trade Union

South Sudan: His Excellency Salva Kiir Mayardit, President of the Republic of South Sudan Statement on the Developing Situation in the Sudan (15.04.2023)

Sudan: Hemeti cannot afford to fail with this coup attempt now…

We would hand him (Al-Burhan) over to to justice or he must die like a dog” – Lt. Gen Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo aka Hemeti

The Rapid Support Forces control 90% of the military areas in Sudan.

– I am speaking in front of the General Command of the Armed Forces and my forces are inside it.

– Al-Burhan hides under the ground and pushes people’s children to fight.

The Inspector General and a number of officers joined the Rapid Support Forces.

– Those who are fighting the RSF now are the Mujahideen and the militias of the Islamic Movement, not the army.

– El Geneina airport was seized, and the commander of the 16th Division, Nyala, voluntarily surrendered.

– We salute the commander of the 16th Division, Nyala, as he is a sane and patriotic person and declared his support for the people’s choice.

– Our message to our Egyptian brothers is to keep your children safe and secure, and we are ready to hand them over to the Egyptian government.

The Egyptian battalion is not considered an enemy and surrendered without resistance.

– What happened is a price for democracy, and we made a pledge to ourselves that power belongs to the people.

– We were forced to confront and we cannot surrender.

Rumors about officers from the Rapid Support Forces joining the army are baseless.

– We have a large stock of weapons and ammunition, and we have received more than 200 armored vehicles” (Rapid Support Forces, 15.04.2023).

Today, the full fledge war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) came into full effect. The results are all across Sudan. To get verified information is nearly hopeless. While both parties claims victories and that it has overtaken vital bases, positions and military installations. As well, as bounties of weapons, ammunitions and vehicles for that matter.

This isn’t a battle for democracy or for a civilian transition. No, this is to conquer and be the Head of State. It is a battle between Al-Burhan and Hemeti. These two are now fighting to stay ahead. This is the third coup d’etat Hemeti is participating and leading in. His RSF has been vital and important in the previous ones. Now it is ordered to overthrow the current regime.

That’s why the brutality and the civilian casualties will rise. The RSF has already massacres civilians for decades. They have killed and silenced dissidents. It was a tool of the Al-Bashir era and now it’s ordered to finish off the National Army. That’s because of the distrust between the Chairman and the Vice-Chairman of the Transitional Sovereign Council.

The game is the game and this one is rigged. It is military commanders and the relics of the tyranny of Al-Bashir that is wrecking havoc on the Republic. Men who has been the warlords and henchmen of the brutal dictatorship of the past. These men who has won honours and privileges by doing so. They have earned currency and titles by serving with viciousness. Instead of doing it on unarmed civilians. They are now pointing the guns against themselves. Not to further the transition or civilian government. No, this is done to become the Head of State and take power. This is a struggle to conquer and rule supreme.

That’s why this is so bloody and will be so sinister. Everything is on the table and quickly the situation can go from being friendly to deadly. Former brothers-in-arms are squaring off against each other and calling each other “illegitimate”. Only doing so to silence and get the throne. Here is Al-Burhan trying to keep his office and Hemeti fighting to take him down. The ones who has taken down Al-Bashir, demoted Hamdok and stopped the transition. Now the same gentlemen are in a huge sword fight to win the crown. This is a bloody battle and everything is on the line. If Hemeti looses, he has lost it all. If Al-Burhan looses, he has lost it all. That’s the game here and this is why none of these men will back down. They have already fired the guns and now the bullets has to be accounted for. Peace.

Tchad: Presidence de Transition – Primature – Ministere de la Communication – Communique du Gouvernement No. 004 (15.04.2023)

South Africa: Build One South Africa (BOSA) Leader Mmusi Maimane letter to Leader of Democratic Alliance John Steenhuisen – “BOSA Expectations for any Party Cooperation Agreement ahead of 2024 (15.04.2023)

Sudan: Sudan Central Doctors Committee – Important Statement (15.04.2023)

Residents of Khartoum and Merowe woke up this morning to the sounds of gunfire amid panic, fear and anticipation from the citizens as a result of the clashes between the army and the Rapid Support Forces.

These events took place in residential neighborhoods, which led to varying injuries and serious cases among citizens, and the injuries are still ongoing accidents flock to different hospitals.

In these complex circumstances, we appeal to the forces of both parties to show the utmost wisdom and restraint to preserve the security and safety of the homeland, and we also demand the necessity of implementing the protocols of the World Health Organization, the Red Cross and others in protecting medical personnel, civilians and the injured. Inside and outside hospitals, we also appeal to citizens to be in their places and not to be in the areas of clashes.

We appeal to all doctors to go to the nearest hospital to their place of residence to help treat the injured, especially in the south of Khartoum and Bahri.

April 15, 2023

South Sudan: Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation – Press Release on the Unfolding Situation in the Sudan (15.04.2023)

Sudan: Sudanese Congress Party – Important Statement (15.04.2023)

This morning, Saturday, April 15, simultaneous clashes erupted between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces in separate areas of Khartoum and Merowe, a situation that could develop greatly.

Our steadfast people

We in the Sudanese Congress Party have always been working with our allies in freedom and change and the civil forces that signed the framework agreement, working to calm the situation between the two sides, and reduce the military escalation, and not to allow the forces of apostasy to turn back the wheel of history and to eliminate the gains of the December revolution through its endeavor to ignite the fuse of armed conflict.

Today, we appeal to the military parties to calm down, cease fire, open channels of dialogue, and not drag the country into an all-out war, we also appeal to male and female citizens not to approach the sites of military engagement, to stay at home, and to adhere to safety and security measures.

We in the Sudanese Congress Party are deeply concerned about the unity of Sudanese soil if the current battles develop into a wide war, we ask our local partners and the international community to intervene quickly in order to silence the sound of guns and bullets, and not allow the forces of apostasy and totalitarianism to push the country into an abyss of unknown resolution.

May God protect our country and our people live free and victorious

Media secretariat

Saturday, April 15, 2023 AD

Sudan: Is this Hemeti’s ultimate coup attempt?

In view of the attack launched by a force of the armed forces this morning, Saturday, April 15, on our forces present in the campgrounds in Soba, and this encroachment, which the Rapid Support Forces confronted with all valor and sacrifice

The following sites have been completely controlled

01 Republican Palace

02 guest house

03 Arresting the attacking force

04 Control of Khartoum Airport, Meroe and Al-Obeid

05 control of a number of sites in the states

Our people’s supporters,

What the Armed Forces Command and a number of officers did represents a clear violation of our forces, which were committed to peace and restraint.

We point out that the behavior of the Armed Forces leadership confirms the lack of desire for the stability and security of the homeland

However, the honorable sons of the armed forces joined the people’s choice

We assure the honorable citizens that they are safe without encroaching on their safety and that the situation is under control

The Rapid Support Forces will continue to protect the nation’s dignity, security and safety” (Rapid Support Force, 15.04.2023).

Today there are horrific news from Sudan, as the Rapid Support Force (RSF) has moved their troops and tried to overtake control in Khartoum. The RSF has also done similar actions in the states of the Republic. That’s why there are news of skirmishes between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the RSF.

This could be the time the General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo aka Hemeti tries to cease power. It could be his try to conquer and control the transition. As the RSF leader and Vice-Chairman. He wants to overthrow and takeover the Sovereign Council. This must be a sting against the other military commanders and especially Gen. Al-Burhan who is in his way.

For Gen. Hemeti this would be his third coup since the fall of Al-Bashir. It would be the time he gets ahead and becomes the Head of State. Because, right now his in the hands of Al-Burhan. That’s something is well known and Hemeti has been thirsty for power. The para-military and junta leader has wanted more all along. Especially, seeing how Al-Burhan has had it. He wants to taste it too.

Hemeti knows how to operate and use his forces. That has been done for years. The RSF, the former Janjaweed has been a tool of the tyranny and caused bloodshed in Darfur for years. These people know how to target a strategic point and annihilate their opponents. Therefore, the SAF has a massive competition here. A competition that has been boosted by foreign funding to stop the “refugee flow” into Europe too.

That’s why Hemeti got loyalists and commanders who adheres to his orders. His not afraid to fire of the guns and take charge. This is the way he moves and he now saw weakness in the SAF. Gen. Hemeti wouldn’t have done this… if he didn’t calculate or think he could overcome Al-Burhan. Because, that is the grandest scheme of things.

There will be deaths, there are reports of deceased people, civilian casualties because of the skirmishes and use of lethal force from the two sides. There will be more of this. More updates during the day too. Especially from Khartoum. This is the danger when you give military men power and let them off the hook. They would take to the gun and settle the score for supremacy. Peace.