Hamidti: Whoever started the war is the one who ends it… We do not kill prisoners
The commander of the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan, Muhammad Hamdan Dagalo (Hamedti), said on Monday that the battle his forces are waging against the army “will end very soon,” denying the accusations against his forces of killing prisoners, and stressing that “who started the war is the one who ends it.” In reference to him, it was the Sudanese army that started the war, and that its forces are defending themselves.
In an audio recording, Hamidti called on army officers and soldiers to join what he called “the people’s choice.” Hamidti indicated that his forces do not have heavy weapons such as tanks and cannons, and that they do not have warplanes, but rather obtained some of these weapons from the army.
He said, “We will defend Sudan and ourselves until the last soldier, and until we bring democracy to all Sudanese.” The war broke out between the army forces and the “rapid support” forces on the fifteenth of last April, after weeks of tension between the two sides.
The commander of the Rapid Support Forces, Muhammad Dagalo, known as Hemedti (AP)
Hamidti reiterated that he is not against the army, nor is he fighting it, but rather “the remnants of the former regime who control the decision-making in the army,” noting that “Al-Burhan is the one who started the war by attacking his forces, and he is the one who ends it.”
He vowed to continue fighting until the last soldier, saying: “We will defend Sudan and ourselves until the last soldier, and until we bring democracy to all Sudanese.”
The “Rapid Support” commander launched a sarcastic attack on the army commander, accusing him of “lying and breaking promises,” and ridiculed his activity that followed his exit from the siege in the General Command to the city of Port Sudan, promising him “an escape from the battle.”
Hemedti denied himself and his forces the accusation of “lying and killing prisoners.” He said: “We do not lie and we do not kill prisoners. Rather, we treat the wounded among them, and whoever lays down arms is a prisoner.” Before the war, Rapid Support agreed to it after hesitation, then retracted it.
An archive photo of the commander of the Rapid Support Forces, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hamedti), with his forces in South Darfur (AFP)
Meanwhile, battles resumed again between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces on Tuesday, around the vicinity of the Armored Corps camp in the Shajara area, south of the capital, Khartoum, days after the two sides intensified media propaganda by controlling it. Eyewitnesses said that columns of smoke rose in the vicinity of the camp after hearing loud explosions due to the renewed clashes between the two parties.
The escalation of battles over the command of the Armored Corps comes hours after the commander of the Rapid Support Forces (Hamedti) spoke on Monday night, in which he confirmed that his forces are present in large numbers in Khartoum and Omdurman, and that the war will end soon.
Elements of the army forces had published a video clip on Facebook, in which they claimed to extend their full control over the armored corps, and were chasing the “rapid support” forces in the neighboring neighborhoods, but a source in the “rapid support” confirmed that they had taken control of large parts of the headquarters, and imposed on it tight blockade. He told Asharq Al-Awsat that the battle in armored vehicles “is taking place in the last stronghold controlled by the army forces.”
Citizens said that the clashes were renewed strongly among the old residential neighborhoods in the Omdurman region, which has recently witnessed an escalation in the pace of fighting.
A picture of the destruction caused by the fighting in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, in early September (AFP)
In parallel, the army bombarded with heavy artillery a number of areas in the east of the Nile and south of Khartoum towards the strongholds of the “rapid support” in the sports city and the land of the camps in Soba.
“Quick Support” prisoners
And the Sudanese army announced (Monday) contacts with the International Committee of the Red Cross to hand over 230 members of the “rapid support” forces who were captured during the battles that took place since the outbreak of the war. And he stated in a statement that the extradition process will take place “as soon as we receive a response from the representatives of the international organization who were addressed in this regard on the 28th of last August.”
Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and Salva Kiir Mayardit in Juba two days ago (Sudanese Presidency)
In addition, the President of the Sovereignty Council, Commander-in-Chief of the Sudanese Army, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, is heading his country’s delegation to participate in the meetings of the United Nations General Assembly No. (78) in New York from September 20 to 25. The media of the Ministry of Finance said in a statement that the Sudanese delegation includes the “designate” Foreign Minister Ali Al-Sadiq, the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning Jibril Ibrahim, the Director of the Security and Intelligence Service, Lieutenant General Ahmed Mufaddal, and a number of technicians from the relevant authorities.
displaced
And the United Nations Office for Humanitarian Affairs in Sudan (OCHA) announced in a recent report on the situation in the country that about 4.8 million people have been displaced internally and externally, and about one million people have crossed the border into neighboring countries due to the fighting that began in mid-April. He added, “The conflict has forced at least two million children to leave their homes, at a rate of 700 children every hour.”
The UN report stated that “about 14 million children are in urgent need of humanitarian support, as they face multiple threats to their presence in combat zones in Khartoum, Darfur and other areas in the country.”
And the United Nations stated, “The World Health Organization has reported 3,046 suspected measles cases and 84 deaths in a number of states in the center and east of the country.”
Citizens in front of a passport office in Al-Ghadaref after announcing the resumption of issuance (AFP)
The United Nations office indicated, “The funding for the humanitarian response plan in Sudan for the year 2023 amounted to 26 percent, with about $676 million in financial support.”
On the other hand, the office announced the arrival of 150 metric tons of life-saving humanitarian aid in South Darfur state.
2023-09-05 18:00:56
#Egypt #direct #flight #Port #Sudan
