Sudan's paramilitary forces declare 'parallel gov't' on war's 2-year mark

KHARTOUM - Commander of Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo announced Tuesday the formation of a "parallel government", which he said will "represent a political charter and a historic transitional constitution for a new Sudan".

The "parallel government" will introduce new currencies and issue national identity documents, Dagalo said in a televised speech broadcast on Telegram, calling on the African Union to recognize the "parallel government".

The announcement coincides with the two-year anniversary of Sudan's war on Tuesday.

It also came almost two months after the RSF and its allied political and armed groups signed "a political charter" in Nairobi, Kenya, expressing intention to form a "parallel government" in Sudan.

On March 13, the Sudanese government, led by Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, who also serves as the head of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), suspended all imports from Kenya in response to Kenya hosting the signing ceremony. Khartoum accused Nairobi of interfering, an allegation Kenya denied.

The conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and RSF, which erupted in April 2023 over tensions linked to a planned political transition, has killed tens of thousands, displaced over 15 million people, and left Sudan facing what the United Nations calls one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. UN agencies warn the country is nearing famine, with its healthcare system collapsed and accurate casualty counts nearly impossible to verify.