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Multiple Armies in Khartoum Raise Security Concerns

Sudanese soldiers stand guard around armored military vehicles as demonstrators continue their protest against the regime near the army headquarters in Khartoum on April 11, 2019. (AFP)
Sudanese soldiers stand guard around armored military vehicles as demonstrators continue their protest against the regime near the army headquarters in Khartoum on April 11, 2019. (AFP)
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Multiple Armies in Khartoum Raise Security Concerns

Sudanese soldiers stand guard around armored military vehicles as demonstrators continue their protest against the regime near the army headquarters in Khartoum on April 11, 2019. (AFP)
Sudanese soldiers stand guard around armored military vehicles as demonstrators continue their protest against the regime near the army headquarters in Khartoum on April 11, 2019. (AFP)

The presence of several armies in the Sudanese capital Khartoum has raised security concerns among the people over what they believe may be a struggle for power between them, which will undermine the country’s democratic transition.

Khartoum hosts the regular army, the Rapid Support Forces, led by First Vice President of the Sovereign Council, Lt. Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, Minni Minawi’s Sudan Liberation Army (SLA), the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and other forces that have defected from these groups.

All of these armed groups freely roam Khartoum. Tensions came to a head after a clash last week between members of an armed group. The police moved in to contain the unrest. Another armed group, from Darfur, also seized control of the Olympic committee building, almost causing an international crisis.

No one knows the accurate number of gunmen and weapons in Sudan. Estimates put the figure at more than 4 million arms, which are possessed by civilians and gunmen. Weapons continue to pour in from neighboring countries, especially chaos-wracked Libya.

Head of the United Nations Integrated Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS), Volker Perthes warned in a briefing before the Security Council that peace cannot be achieved with the presence of so many armies.

For over half a decade, the Sudanese military has always had to contend with rebellions from within its ranks. Rebel officers would then go on to form their own militias, leading to various conflicts over the years.

Sudan’s power-sharing government signed a peace agreement with key rebel groups last years, a step towards resolving deep-rooted conflicts from the long rule of ousted leader Omar al-Bashir.

Three major groups signed the Juba peace agreement, including factions from Darfur. But two factions with the biggest presence on the ground in Darfur and the south did not sign.

Along with the JEM, it was signed by the SLA, from Darfur, and by Malik Agar, leader of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), from the South Kordofan and Blue Nile regions.

One major SPLM-N faction, and an SLA faction led by Abdel Wahed el-Nur, did not.

Security expert Mohammed al-Amin Ismail al-Majzoub noted a flaw in the peace agreement, saying its security arrangements cover all forces and militias that were inherited by the transitional government from the former regime. It did not, however, specify the number of forces included in the merger of groups.

“The devil lies in the details,” he added, noting that the agreement was vague in how it should be implemented.

He denied that the ruling authorities were concerned about the deployment of these forces in Khartoum, warning, however, that they cannot rule out the possibility of clashes erupting between.

“We have seen security shortcomings in Khartoum, which used to be among the safest capitals in the world,” he remarked. “The authorities are not concerned that these armies would seek to seize power, but rather they fear that they would become embroiled in clashes with the regular forces.”

He therefore urged the need for the security and defense council to meet to determine the numbers of these forces and kick off security arrangements, even if the financial means for them are not yet available.

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Damascus’ Mazzeh 86 Neighborhood, Witness of The Two-Assad Era

Members of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent stand near the wreckage of a car after what the Syrian state television said was a "guided missile attack" on the car in the Mazzeh area of Damascus, Syria October 21, 2024. REUTERS/Firas Makdesi
Members of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent stand near the wreckage of a car after what the Syrian state television said was a "guided missile attack" on the car in the Mazzeh area of Damascus, Syria October 21, 2024. REUTERS/Firas Makdesi
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Damascus’ Mazzeh 86 Neighborhood, Witness of The Two-Assad Era

Members of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent stand near the wreckage of a car after what the Syrian state television said was a "guided missile attack" on the car in the Mazzeh area of Damascus, Syria October 21, 2024. REUTERS/Firas Makdesi
Members of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent stand near the wreckage of a car after what the Syrian state television said was a "guided missile attack" on the car in the Mazzeh area of Damascus, Syria October 21, 2024. REUTERS/Firas Makdesi

In the Mazzeh 86 neighborhood, west of the Syrian capital Damascus, the names of many shops, grocery stores, and public squares still serve as a reminder of the era of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his late father, Hafez al-Assad.

This is evident in landmarks like the “Al-Hafez Restaurant,” one of the prominent features of this area. Squares such as “Al-Areen,” “Officers,” and “Bride of the Mountain” evoke memories of the buildings surrounding them, which once housed influential officials and high-ranking officers in intelligence and security agencies. These individuals instilled fear in Syrians for five decades until their historic escape on the night of the regime’s collapse last month.

In this neighborhood, the effects of Israeli bombing are clearly visible, as it was targeted multiple times. Meanwhile, its narrow streets and alleys were strewn with military uniforms abandoned by leaders who fled before military operations arrived and liberated the area from their grip on December 8 of last year.

Here, stark contradictions come to light during a tour by Asharq Al-Awsat in a district that, until recently, was largely loyal to the former president. Muaz, a 42-year-old resident of the area, recounts how most officers and security personnel shed their military uniforms and discarded them in the streets on the night of Assad’s escape.

He said: “Many of them brought down their weapons and military ranks in the streets and fled to their hometowns along the Syrian coast.”

Administratively part of Damascus, Mazzeh 86 consists of concrete blocks randomly built between the Mazzeh Western Villas area, the Mazzeh Highway, and the well-known Sheikh Saad commercial district. Its ownership originally belonged to the residents of the Mazzeh area in Damascus. The region was once agricultural land and rocky mountain terrain. The peaks extending toward Mount Qasioun were previously seized by the Ministry of Defense, which instructed security and army personnel to build homes there without requiring property ownership documents.

Suleiman, a 30-year-old shop owner, who sells white meat and chicken, hails from the city of Jableh in the coastal province of Latakia. His father moved to this neighborhood in the 1970s to work as an army assistant.

Suleiman says he hears the sound of gunfire every evening, while General Security patrols roam the streets “searching for remnants of the former regime and wanted individuals who refuse to surrender their weapons. We fear reprisals and just want to live in peace.”

He mentioned that prices before December 8 were exorbitant and beyond the purchasing power of Syrians, with the price of a kilogram of chicken exceeding 60,000 Syrian pounds and a carton of eggs reaching 75,000.

“A single egg was sold for 2,500 pounds, which is far beyond the purchasing power of any employee in the public or private sector,” due to low salaries and the deteriorating living conditions across the country,” Suleiman added.

On the sides of the roads, pictures of the fugitive president and his father, Hafez al-Assad, were torn down, while military vehicles were parked, awaiting instructions.

Maram, 46, who previously worked as a civilian employee in the Ministry of Defense, says she is waiting for the resolution of employment statuses for workers in army institutions. She stated: “So far, there are no instructions regarding our situation. The army forces and security personnel have been given the opportunity for settlement, but there is no talk about us.”

The neighborhood, in its current form, dates back to the 1980s when Rifaat al-Assad, the younger brother of former President Hafez al-Assad, was allowed to construct the “Defense Palace,” which was referred to as “Brigade 86.” Its location is the same area now known as Mazzeh Jabal 86.

The area is divided into two parts: Mazzeh Madrasa (School) and Mazzeh Khazan (Tank). The first takes its name from the first school built and opened in the area, while the second is named after the water tank that supplies the entire Mazzeh region.

Two sources from the Mazzeh Municipality and the Mukhtar’s office estimate the neighborhood’s current population at approximately 200,000, down from over 300,000 before Assad’s fall. Most residents originate from Syria’s coastal regions, followed by those from interior provinces like Homs and Hama. There was also a portion of Kurds who had moved from the Jazira region in northeastern Syria to live there, but most returned to their areas due to the security grip and after the “Crisis Cell” bombing that killed senior security officials in mid-2012.

Along the main street connecting Al-Huda Square to Al-Sahla Pharmacy, torn images of President Hafez al-Assad are visible for the first time in this area in five decades. On balconies and walls, traces of Bashar al-Assad’s posters remain, bearing witness to his 24-year era.