Tensions in Sudan between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have reached a boiling point. The violent clashes have dragged the country to the brink of a civil war, and to a “point of no return,” according to Mohamed Osman, a researcher in Human Rights Watch's Africa Division. “What we have been seeing in the last days has been a manifestation of failing to address the root causes of violence,” Osman tells Forbes.
General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan is the head of Sudan’s military and General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo leads the rival RSF paramilitary force. Osman characterizes the fighting as a result of a personal dispute between the two generals that has escalated to a country-wide clash. “It’s fair to say that these two men with their ego[s] have held our country at gunpoint.”
As of now, the two forces have agreed to a three-day ceasefire, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced on Monday. After the 72 hours is up, will Sudan devolve into an all-out civil war? Osman believes the chances of that happening are real. “We have been seeing the conflict flaring up to a different degree in different regions,” he says on Forbes Newsroom. “With the existing vulnerabilities, I think the risk of Sudan descending into even further violence … is much, much more realistic.”
