Sudan denounces ‘parallel government’ by paramilitary RSF

By Adel Abdelrheem and Betul Yilmaz

KHARTOUM / ISTANBUL (AA) - Sudan decried on Sunday an announcement by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to form a “parallel government.”

In a statement, the Sudanese Foreign Ministry called the RSF move “a complete disregard and contempt for the suffering of the Sudanese people, who have endured all forms of violence, persecution, and torture at the hands of this terrorist militia.”

Calling the RSF-led Cabinet a “phantom government,” the ministry said the move was “clear evidence of the defeat and rout the rebel group at the hands of our valiant armed forces.”

It also denounced Kenya for hosting meetings to announce the RSF’s “illegitimate government in Nairobi.”

On Saturday, the Sudanese Founding Alliance, a coalition led by the RSF, announced the formation of a parallel government, led by RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.

RSF and several allied groups signed a political charter in Kenya on Feb. 22 to establish a parallel government in Sudan.

The army and RSF have been fighting a war since April 2023 that has killed more than 20,000 victims and displaced 14 million, according to the UN and local authorities. Research from US universities, however, estimates the death toll at around 130,000.