The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti), have been at war in Sudan since April 2023. Before the conflict began, they collaborated to overthrow former President Omar al-Bashir after his thirty years of dictatorship.
During his reign, Bashir established the Janjaweed, a militia group composed of Arab tribes and herders who engaged in mass displacement, murder, and rape in Darfur. In 2013 the Janjaweed, led by Hemedti, transformed into the RSF and functioned as an imperial guard for Bashir. In 2017 Bashir appointed Burhan as Inspector General of the SAF, Sudan’s official army.
Post Bashir, and a second coup ousting the civilian component of the transitional government, the two military leaders disagreed on the integration of the RSF into the SAF. Both Generals claim they are fighting for democracy, and defending the country from the other’s betrayal, and have committed to resolving this civil war militarily.