By Athena Papakosta

The fierce bloody conflicts that erupted in Sudan on Holy Saturday is the consequence of the ongoing battle for absolute control of power between two former allies: the head of the Sudan Armed Forces, Gen. Abdel Fatah al Burhan and the general Mohammed Hamdan Daglo or “Khemedi”head of the powerful paramilitary organization Rapid Support Forces, RSF.

The former is the de facto leader of Sudan and the latter the vice president of the military council and thus the “number two” in the hierarchy. Sudan’s military controls most of the country’s economy but the Rapid Support Forces control important gold mining areas.

Burhan and Daglo had jointly orchestrated the October 2021 coup but in the last few months the tension between them was getting worse and worse.

The cause of their disagreement is the direction Sudan will take and its path back to democracy. A plan for a transition to democracy had already been agreed last December but talks to finalize the details were deadlocked. One of the main points of contention between the two men was the integration of the RSF into the Sudanese army and which of the two would have first (and only) say over soldiers and weapons.

General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo has already underlined that the 2021 coup was a mistake and is trying to portray himself and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces as being on the side of the people against Khartoum’s elites. For his part, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan emphasizes that the army will hand over power only to a democratically elected government.

No one knows who fired the first bullet on Holy Saturday. The two warring sides blame each other for this too. According to international news agencies, on Holy Wednesday the Rapid Support Forces began deploying their forces around the small but strategically important city of Merowe, north of the Sudanese capital, Khartoum.

On Maundy Thursday, their forces were advancing towards the capital and other parts of the country, without the go-ahead from the Sudanese military. On Holy Saturday morning, the first fighting broke out at a military base south of Khartoum. To this day, the conflicts have not stopped and are bloody.

Tough street battles with gunfire, explosions and even airstrikes intensify the chaos. For the past two or so 24 hours, the clashes have also spread outside the capital, and in particular in the coastal city of Port Sudan, which is important for international trade, on the Red Sea, and in eastern areas bordering Eritrea and Ethiopia. There are also reports of fighting in the fractured Darfur region in the west of the country. At the same time, fears inside and outside Sudan of hundreds of dead, soldiers and civilians, are intensifying.

During the three-decade dictatorship of Omar Al-Bashir, Russia managed to develop into the most influential foreign power in the country, later even achieving the signing of an agreement to establish a Russian naval base in Sudanese territory on the Red Sea.

After Bashir’s overthrow, the United States and the European Union began to compete with Moscow for influence in Sudan, which is rich in natural resources, including gold, but is sinking due to conflicts and coups.

In recent years, there have even been raids by the Wagner mercenary group in the country, while Burhan and Daglo have developed very strong ties with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, with their forces having fought alongside the forces of the coalition led by Riyadh in the long Yemeni civil war. Added to the equation is Egypt, which has strong ties to the Sudanese military.

Sudan is located on the north-eastern side of Africa and borders 7 countries including the powerful states of Egypt and Ethiopia. Before the secession of South Sudan in 2011, it was the largest country in Africa.

Today, it risks slipping back into civil strife with residents confined to their homes as fighting continues even in urban areas with hospitals straining without power, blood, transfusions and other essential medical supplies. supplies.

The West and Russia are monitoring the situation for fear of it spreading beyond Sudan’s borders while calling – agreeing for the first time in months – on a ceasefire.