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Sudan's RSF, Allied Groups to Sign Charter to Form Parallel Government, Two Signatories Say

Sudanese refugees wait their turn to get drinking water from a muddy pond in Gerbana, a village 22km from the Sudanese border, South Sudan, 13 February 2025 (issued on 15 February 2025), as water shortages and diseases resulting from contaminated water have become the community's main complaint. (EPA)
Sudanese refugees wait their turn to get drinking water from a muddy pond in Gerbana, a village 22km from the Sudanese border, South Sudan, 13 February 2025 (issued on 15 February 2025), as water shortages and diseases resulting from contaminated water have become the community's main complaint. (EPA)
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Sudan's RSF, Allied Groups to Sign Charter to Form Parallel Government, Two Signatories Say

Sudanese refugees wait their turn to get drinking water from a muddy pond in Gerbana, a village 22km from the Sudanese border, South Sudan, 13 February 2025 (issued on 15 February 2025), as water shortages and diseases resulting from contaminated water have become the community's main complaint. (EPA)
Sudanese refugees wait their turn to get drinking water from a muddy pond in Gerbana, a village 22km from the Sudanese border, South Sudan, 13 February 2025 (issued on 15 February 2025), as water shortages and diseases resulting from contaminated water have become the community's main complaint. (EPA)

Sudan's Rapid Support Forces will sign a charter with allied political and armed groups on Saturday evening to establish a "government of peace and unity" in territories it controls, signatories al-Hadi Idris and Ibrahim Mirghani told Reuters.

The RSF has seized most of the western Darfur region and swathes of the Kordofan region in an almost-two-year war, but is being pushed back from central Sudan by the Sudanese army, which has condemned the formation of a parallel government.

Such a government, which has already drawn an expression of concern from the United Nations, is not expected to receive widespread recognition. Those affiliated with the government say its formation will be announced from inside the country.

General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, head of the paramilitary that has been accused of widespread abuses including genocide, was hit with sanctions by the United States earlier this year.

The war, which erupted after disagreements between the RSF and the army over their integration during a transition towards democracy, has devastated the country, driving half the population into hunger.

According to Idris, among the signatories to the charter and foundational constitution is powerful rebel leader Abdelaziz al-Hilu who controls vast swathes of territory and troops in South Kordofan state, and who has long demanded that Sudan embrace secularism.

Talks that began earlier this week were hosted in Kenya, drawing condemnation from Sudan and domestic criticism of President William Ruto for plunging the country into a diplomatic melee.

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Arab World

Attacks on Syrian Security Forces Sent to Quell Sectarian Clashes Leave 18 Dead as Israel Strikes Targets to Protect Druze

Smoke billows following Israeli strikes in the distance as members of Syria's security forces man rocket launchers in an area between Mazraa and Walga near the predominantly Druze city of Sweida on July 14, 2025, following clashes between Bedouin tribes and Druze fighters. (AFP)
Smoke billows following Israeli strikes in the distance as members of Syria's security forces man rocket launchers in an area between Mazraa and Walga near the predominantly Druze city of Sweida on July 14, 2025, following clashes between Bedouin tribes and Druze fighters. (AFP)
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Attacks on Syrian Security Forces Sent to Quell Sectarian Clashes Leave 18 Dead as Israel Strikes Targets to Protect Druze

Smoke billows following Israeli strikes in the distance as members of Syria's security forces man rocket launchers in an area between Mazraa and Walga near the predominantly Druze city of Sweida on July 14, 2025, following clashes between Bedouin tribes and Druze fighters. (AFP)
Smoke billows following Israeli strikes in the distance as members of Syria's security forces man rocket launchers in an area between Mazraa and Walga near the predominantly Druze city of Sweida on July 14, 2025, following clashes between Bedouin tribes and Druze fighters. (AFP)

At least 18 members of Syria's security forces have been killed in the predominantly Druze city of Sweida, the Defense Ministry said, after they deployed to quell deadly sectarian clashes that had resumed on Monday, while Israel said it struck tanks in a town in the same province on the same day.

Sunday's fighting between Druze militiamen and Bedouin tribal fighters was the first time that sectarian violence erupted inside the city of Sweida itself, following months of tensions in the broader province.

Defense Ministry spokesperson Hassan Abdel-Ghani said in statements reported by Syrian state news agency SANA that a number of troops were also injured during attacks on military points by "outlawed groups".

Earlier, the ministry said in a statement to Reuters that these groups, who it did not identify further, had attacked a number of its units at dawn.

It said its forces responded to the attacks and had pursued the groups that refused to halt hostilities and continued to target security forces.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military said it attacked several tanks in a town in Sweida. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the strikes were a "clear warning to the Syrian regime", adding that Israel would not allow harm to the Druze living in Syria.

Close ties between the Israeli state and its 120,000 Druze citizens, strengthened by the fact that Druze men serve in the Israel army, are one of the reasons for Israel's deepening involvement in Syria.

The fighting on Sunday left 30 people dead and prompted Syria's security forces to deploy units to the city to restore calm and guarantee safe passage for civilians looking to leave, the defense ministry said in earlier statements.

But intense clashes broke out again on Monday, local news outlet Sweida24 reported.

Another security source said that Syrian troops would aim to exert state control over the whole province to prevent any more violence, but that this could take several days.

It marked the latest episode of sectarian bloodshed in Syria, where fears among minority groups have surged since opposition fighters toppled President Bashar al-Assad in December, installing their own government and security forces.

The factions which fought Assad during the war agreed in December to dissolve into the Defense Ministry but efforts to integrate armed factions from minority groups - including Druze and Kurds - have largely stalled.

In southern Syria, efforts have been further complicated by Israel's stated policy that it would not allow Syria's new army to deploy south of Damascus and that Sweida and neighboring provinces should make up a demilitarized zone.

Interior Minister Anas Khattab said in a written statement carried on state media that the "absence of state institutions, especially military and security institutions, is a major cause of the ongoing tensions in Sweida and its countryside."

Sunday's violence erupted after a wave of kidnappings, including the abduction of a Druze merchant on Friday on the highway linking Damascus to Sweida, witnesses said.