The RSF blames Egypt and its own backers for withdrawing support from the Sudanese militia

A week after the commander of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, addressed his troops, the Sudanese and global analysis of his rambling comments has continued to dominate newspaper columns, news bulletins and social media. Dagalo’s comments took on great importance given the series of military defeats faced by his paramilitary group in the past month. Commentators suggested that the general, who is also known as “Hemedti”, spoke as though he knew that he was making his final comments in anticipation of defeat and exile from Sudan. Arguably his most notable assertion was the claim that the Egyptian army, using US bombs, had assisted Sudan in air raids against RSF positions. Moreover, he made the controversial claim that he had predicted that the Sudan Framework agreement which he signed in December 2022 would inevitably lead to war.

The Egyptian government responded swiftly to his allegation. “While Egypt denies those claims,” said the foreign ministry in Cairo, “it calls on the international community to find evidence for what the RSF militia leader said.” Referring to the RSF as a militia was a departure from the language that the Egyptians had used previously.

Dagalo’s insistence that he had predicted that the framework agreement would lead to war perplexed and confused commentators and political analysts alike. The logic of his argument suggested that he was unable to avert the war despite being a co-signatory to the agreement and despite not having voiced public discontent or withdrawn from the “fated” agreement before now.

For the first time, the RSF leader blamed his foreign partners for pushing him into war and then abandoning him.

“Why did you push for war if you were satisfied with the return of the Islamic Movement and the National Congress?” he asked rhetorically. “And why did you then destroy our country if you were going to back down from supporting us to eliminate the Islamic Movement?”

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He is clearly disappointed to have lost the support of those who had encouraged him to take on the Islamic elements of the Sudanese government, although he did not name which backers specifically. Their change of heart appears to stem from Western condemnation of the RSF for its genocidal behaviour and allegations that war crimes have been committed by the militia since the war against the Sudanese Army started in mid-April 2023.

On Tuesday, the US imposed sanctions on the RSF leader’s younger brother, Algoney Hamdan Daglo Musa, accusing him of buying weapons for the paramilitary group. “At a time when the United States, the United Nations, the African Union and others are advocating for peace, key individuals on both sides — including Algoney Hamdan Daglo Musa — continue to procure weapons to facilitate attacks and other atrocities against their own citizens,” said Bradley Smith of the US Treasury.

Dagalo’s speech was dominated by the nature of the tribal differences between his adversaries which he felt had been ignored at its highest levels. He blamed a member of the Sovereignty Council, Ibrahim Jaber, for “not taking into account the blood relationship, meaning the tribal kinship that unites the two men, and did not appreciate the services that [Hemedti] had provided to him.”

The RSF leader blamed the tactics employed by the Shaigiya tribe, one of the largest in Sudan, for supporting the Islamic movement. He said that his militia had been fighting the Islamic movement since the beginning of the war and regretted the ability of this movement to convince the international community that the RSF was to blame for starting the war last year.

The irony was not lost on observers who have watched the RSF pursue the war that the militia’s leader claims to have predicted would take place because of an agreement that he himself signed up to. Furthermore, by suggesting that Egypt was sending arms and ammunition to the Sudanese Army, whether true or not, Dagalo created the perception that Egypt stood in solidarity with Sudan and demolished any perceptions that their neighbours were working against the interest of the Sudanese people. In many ways, the conclusion to be drawn from Dagalo’s unconventional rant is that the general and his Rapid Support Forces were clearly the main obstacles to the future prosperity that the Sudanese people deserve and so desperately want to see.

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The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.