Since independence, Sudan has seen several military coups

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Sudan’s civil war and resulting humanitarian crisis has been overshadowed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the tragedy in Palestine. The immigrant crisis in Europe overshadows it. Even if  Russia hadn’t invaded Ukraine and Israel hadn’t invaded Gaza, one doubts if the world would care much about what is happening in Sudan. 

This is a tragedy that has been unfolding almost since the day Sudan gained independence from Anglo-Egyptian rule in 1958. Though Sudan was actually controlled by the Pasha of Egypt with a British Governor, modern Sudan is a British colonial idea which forced diverse religious and ethnic groups to live together, with sharp divisions between the richer, Arabic north and the poor, animistic and Christian south. 

There have always been deep currents of radical Islam in Sudan even in the 19th century. A rebellion led by the fanatical Muhammad Al-Mahdi (19th century Daesh or Islamic State) besieged Khartoum in 1884, and the British Governor Maj. Gen. Charles Gordon refused to evacuate. He was killed with his forces in January 1885.

Since independence, Sudan has seen several military coups. The first coup took place in 1958. The most destructive of these coups was carried out by Omar Al-Bashir, an ultra religious and nationalist general who ruled the country ruthlessly for thirty years, imposing Sharia law and suppressing the democratic opposition and media freedom.

The population finally rose against him in 2018 in an unarmed revolution. Gen. Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, commander of the Sudanese army, formed an interim government with rival Gen. Mohammad Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti), promising to hand over power to a civilian government.

Hemedti was Omar Al-Bashir’s protégé, handpicked by him to lead a group of Arab militias known as the Janjaweed, used to suppress South Sudan’s rebellion against rule by Khartoum. The Janjaweed became notorious for using genocidal murder and rape as weapons. 

Al-Bashir, who was convicted by the international court of justice and could not travel outside Sudan, saw Hemedti and his militia as protection against a possible coup. He called Hemedti ‘my protector.’

But Hemedti had other ideas. Sudan has considerable gold reserves in the south. He quickly seized the mines from the rebels, and sent the gold to the United Arab Emirates. Both the Emirates and Hemedti got rich on Sudan’s gold. 

The Russian Wagner Group, exporting mercenaries all over the world (they played a key role in the early stages of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine) wanted some of that gold, too. In exchange, Hemedti got sophisticated weapons including SAM missiles.

These were used by Hemedti’s men hired to fight Houthi rebels in Yemen. In Sudan, a doctor may make $500 a month. Hemedti paid his men $13,000 for a six-month term in Yemen, all from plundered Sudanese gold. For poverty-stricken Sudanese (recruits were as young as fourteen or fifteen), it was a dream come true.

For those who had to face them, it was a nightmare. Hemedti’s militia was now a powerful private army, and he ran a state within a state. If Al-Bashir, during his final years as ruler of Sudan, realised what was happening, he was powerless to prevent it. 

The pro-democracy movement, which forced Al-Bashir to quit, demanded war crimes trials. They wanted Hemedti’s private army disbanded.

As much as Gen. Al-Burhan hated Hemedti, he could not agree to those demands, as his army too, was involved in war crimes. In 2021, a military coup ousted the Prime Minister and his government, ending brief civilian rule. It was Hemedti’s men who attacked sleeping protesters at night in Khartoum, shouting ‘we have brought South Sudan to you,’ and killing and raping at will, engaging in their favourite tactics.

The democratic opposition was silenced, but the uneasy cohabitation between the two generals didn’t last. Both sides accuse each other of starting the war which is now causing such enormous suffering to all Sudanese, north or south.

Sudan is the largest country in Africa, and the tenth largest in the world. It’s rich in oil and minerals. It has forty seven million people, and over 500 ethnic groups, but Sunni Muslims make up 97% of the population and Arabic is the main language. Sudan’s power struggles are aided, abetted and fuelled by foreign powers ranging from the US and Iran to Russia; all these countries want naval bases in the region. 

It’s present culture and politics are shaped by historical forces going back to the 14th century, when Arabs conquered  African tribes to whom the region has been home, converting many to Islam except in what is now called the ‘non Arab’ south, an euphemism for the Christian and animistic (ancient African) beliefs that pervade South Sudan.

Seventy five percent of Sudan’s oil resources lie in this southern Darfur region, which is why Gen. Hamedti continues with his ethnic cleansing.

The capital, Khartoum, had a population of six million, and at least three million have fled the fighting. The RDF took over Khartoum as the war started in April 2023, seizing the vital radio and communication centre. When the army seized it back again, there was evidence of torture and a mass grave.

Intense fighting between the RDF and the army  (Sudanese armed forces or SAF)   devastated  much of Khartoum. Greater Khartoum is actually three cities, and RDF is still in control of greater Khartoum as the army has retaken the rest. The RDF lacks air power, but it keeps the air force at bay with its Wagner-supplied SAM missiles.

According to UN reports, 250,000 children are facing imminent death from starvation and disease. Both sides block UN aid to the opposing side, resulting in the world’s worst humanitarian crisis next to Gaza. 

But there are no UN peacekeepers in sight. The US and NATO are too busy with the Ukraine quagmire to think of African tragedy, and Russia has its own strategic interests to look after in Sudan. There are volunteer groups of Sudanese struggling to keep hospitals going, but they are risking their lives and the whole country is woefully short of food and medicines.