Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by Mohammad Hamdan Daglo, announced on Friday the completion of arrangements to form its parallel "government of peace and unity" in areas under its control.
It stressed that it will protect these regions from air strikes from the Sudanese army, led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, so that the new government will be able to carry out services to the people, including the printing of currency and issuing of passports.
The RSF also vowed to continue the fight against the army until it is defeated and until it liberates the Northern state, as well as the states of the River Nile, Red Sea and Kassala from "the Islamist movement," which it accuses of controlling the army.
RSF second in command Abdulrahim Hamdan Daglo told political and civilian groups in the Kenyan capital Nairobi that arrangements for the formation of the parallel government are complete.
He confirmed that machines for printing currency and passports are available.
The RSF and its allies had in late February agreed in principle to form a government for a "New Sudan" as they sought to pull legitimacy from the existing army-led government and facilitate advanced arms imports.
They agreed to a new constitution that formally establishes a government and maps out what it describes as a federal, secular state, split into eight regions.
Signatories include the SPLM-N, which controls vast areas in Sudan's South Kordofan, and other smaller groups.
Sudan was plunged in civil war in 2023 after disputes between the army and RSF over governance in wake of the ouster of longtime ruler Omar al-Bashir in 2021.
Abdulrahim Daglo said regions held by the RSF will be completely protected from army attacks – a reference that his forces may possess anti-aircraft defenses.
He vowed to rebuild what was destroyed by the war and to carry out development projects in regions held by the RSF to establish a "New Sudan".
Moreover, he said he will return to the field of battle and lead operations himself.
"We will fight them no matter where they are. The rights of the Sudanese people will never be wasted. We will liberate our people so that they can lead free and dignified lives," he stressed.
The formation of a parallel government has stoked fears of division in Sudan.
The country’s largest civilian alliance, Taqaddum, broke apart after the declaration. One camp, led by former Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, announced its opposition to the parallel government, while another sided with it.
Political activist Azzam Abdullah said the idea of forming a parallel government emerged after the Burhan government deprived citizens of living areas outside the army’s control of bank and education services, as well as the right to obtain identification papers and passports.
Members of the United Nations Security Council expressed their deep concern over the formation of the parallel government, saying that deepens the conflict in Sudan and may lead to its division.
The army currently controls central, northern and eastern states, while the RSF holds areas in the west and south. Tens of thousands of people have been killed and millions displaced in the war.
