A power struggle between rival generals has exploded into three days of urban warfare in the Sudanese capital Khartoum, with around 180 civilians dead and growing fears the fighting may plunge Sudan into civil war.
Army chief Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan joined forces with Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, the head of the powerful Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group, to mount a coup in October 2021. Now their pact has broken down, and they're waging what analysts believe both see as an "existential" fight.
"They started to develop different income streams, different foreign policies, different domestic policies," Khair says, adding that the army controlled many state-owned enterprises, the RSF controlled much of the gold trade, and both had their own allies in the political and judicial establishment. "You have effectively two states in one."
The framework agreement changed the equation, she says, because it called for the army and RSF to be consolidated under the control of a civilian government. "This is what makes both generals feel like this is now an existential conflict for them: If they don't get rid of the other, then the other can supersede them."Smoke rises over Khartoum on Sunday.
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