The Sudanese army’s call for volunteers opens the door for militants to infiltrate
Khartoum – Sudanese circles fear that the repetition of the Sudanese army’s call for civilian volunteers to join it will become a door allowing more militants to infiltrate its ranks. The call will become a cover for the entry of armed militias under different names formed during the era of former President Omar al-Bashir to defend his regime, which was not resolved after his fall.
These circles warned that the search of the army commander, Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, for popular support to confront the political help enjoyed by the commander of the Rapid Support Forces, Lieutenant General Muhammad Hamdan Dagalo (Hamidti), would lead to an increase in the features of sedition and the entry into a civil war, the conditions are ripe for its outbreak.
Hamidti’s speech finds unannounced acceptance by the Forces for Freedom and Change – the Central Council, which rejects military rule and demands a civilian government.
Hatem Elias: The call attracts racist and Islamist extremists and the remnants of Al-Bashir
On Monday, the Sudanese Armed Forces called on young men to join the army as the fighting continued against the Rapid Support Forces, and commanders of military divisions and regions were instructed to receive and equip the fighters and to send them to the nearest command or military unit.
Fierce battles broke out on Tuesday in Omdurman, in the western part of the Sudanese capital, at a time when the army is trying to block the way for military reinforcements coming to support the Rapid Support Forces in the city, whose leadership said it had shot down a fighter plane. Residents published video clips showing two pilots jumping from airplanes.
In mid-April, after the outbreak of fighting with the Rapid Support Forces, the army called on citizens to volunteer in its ranks, and civilians brushed aside its call.
And General Al-Burhan stated, on the eve of the Eid Al-Adha celebration, that “the size of the conspiracy requires everyone to be vigilant and ready to confront the existential threats to our state. It is an honor to defend the survival of the Sudanese state.”
The repeated call for volunteers to join the army indicates that it has suffered heavy human losses during the last period, and what is left of it has lost its morale and is unable to confront the Rapid Support Forces, which are fighting fiercely.
Al-Burhan may have committed a tactical error with this invitation, which officially opened the door for terrorist elements to join the army, including a group affiliated with the Islamic Movement, which confirms information that has circulated since the outbreak of the war about his relationship with the remnants of Al-Bashir, and the readiness of senior leaders with him to arrange a military coup that prevents the army from handing over power to a civil authority.
This type of call could give way to different tribal and regional formations that announce joining one of the parties to the conflict to defend their interests, intensifying the situation on the ground.
An alliance of Arab tribes in Darfur recently announced its loyalty to the Rapid Support Forces. It urged the tribe members in the army to defect and join the Rapid Support Forces.
Sudanese political analyst Hatem Elias said the call to receive volunteers reflects a structural crisis within the army. He indicates that military operations are not in his favor amid frequent reports that Al-Burhan is located in a limited place in the General Command called the “basement.”
In an exclusive statement to The Arab Weekly, he explained that “the call attracts racist extremists, political Islam groups, and the remnants of Bashir, and these see that the war expresses a regional conflict based on delusional historical fears based on an old battle that resounds from time to time between the people of the sea (i.e., the Nile) from on the one hand and the people of the West (i.e. Kordofan and Darfur) on the other.
Hatem Elias indicated that Al-Burhan’s call was not popularly accepted, and it was an attempt to create popular support for him after the army entered isolation due to confusion, confusion, and an early coup against the civil authority. They need the compass through which they seek to achieve their goals.
Nabil Adeeb: The danger of the call lies in the possibility of the proliferation of weapons in civilian areas and the difficulty of dealing with them
He pointed out to The Arab Weekly that the majority of foreign powers are aware of the composition and nature of the army after the Islamists managed to tamper with its components during the period of Bashir’s rule and sought to turn it into a military arm for them to achieve their hidden goals. Therefore, the position will not change regarding the importance of reaching a political process that restructures the armed forces. as a unified national army.
The information must show who responded to the invitation and his political identity, as it came loosely, establishing it as if it was directed to a party that remained in the shadows during the last period. It was time for it to participate publicly in the battles after Al-Burhan paved the way for it to miss the opportunity to trade it politically if victims fell from it in the competition. War so that they are dealt with as members of the volunteers and not as activists, militants, and arms of the Islamic movement.
The lawyer and head of the investigation committee in the dispersal of the General Command sit-in, Nabil Adeeb, confirmed that “Al-Burhan’s call for volunteers is understood as part of the political action of the war to support a fighting party, and in this case, the army is supported by finding support or a popular lever for it,” noting that “the call may It will also be a door for more extremists to infiltrate the army, in light of the difficulty of creating a review process or a filter to identify the ideologies of the new joiners.”
In a statement to The Arab Weekly, he stressed that “the danger of the call lies in the possibility of the proliferation of weapons in civilian areas and the difficulty of dealing with them, which ultimately affects the position of the army members as a non-ideological force, and it is expected that their presence will be limited to fighting, and this does not prevent There are political tendencies within the army, but loyalty remains to the Sudanese state.”
The army’s call to bring in young and civilian volunteers indicates a loss of confidence in the infantry forces, which could not cope with the grueling conditions of street warfare. It suggests that a chapter on the battles will be written in the coming days, further evidence of the blockage of the political horizon.
Author: Albert Waed
