Armed groups skirmish in eastern Sudan ‘safe state’

The government of El Gedaref in eastern Sudan has deported forces affiliated with the Sudan Liberation Movement led by Minni Minawi (SLM-MM) on Monday, following “isolated and limited friction” with members of another SLM faction east of El Gedaref town.

The El Gedaref state government said on Sunday it received a “group of forces from the SLM-MM, led by Brig Gen Yahya Hasanein. They were temporarily hosted in Rabwa camp and transferred the following day.”

The state government further confirmed that the Rabwa camp, located between El Gedaref and Um Shajara, “hosts forces of the SLM faction led by Mustafa Tambour, with the aim of preparing, equipping, and training them for combat with heavy and advanced weaponry, to join the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF).

“Limited and isolated skirmished occurred between elements of the two movements”, it said, adding that the situation “was contained by transferring SLM-MM forces to another camp in El Gedaref”.

On Monday, SLM-Tambour accused the state governor of El Gedaref of “allowing SLM-MM forces into Rabwa camp without prior notice”, adding that the camp was “allocated to SLM-Tambour by the president of Sudan” and rejecting the presence of Minawi’s forces.

SLM-Tambour spokesperson El Tijani Abdallah told Radio Dabanga that his group is “ready to clash with Minawi’s forces if they do not leave the camp by Monday evening. We have raised the matter with [chairperson of the Sovereignty Council and army commander] Abdelfattah El Burhan”.

Residents of the area who spoke to Radio Dabanga warned of “simmering tensions” between various rebel forces in El Gedaref, adding they were “dissatisfied with their presence in the state”.

Moataz Mohamed, a listener from El Gedaref, said that the villagers living in the vicinity of the Rabwa camp had previously rejected the forces’ presence near their homes, “but authorities refused to move them elsewhere”.

Lawyer Ramzi Yahya said he regrets the presence of armed groups in “one of the safe states far from active battle zones.

“There is no point in the presence of multiple armed groups, as it can negatively impact safety and stability in El Gedaref,” he said.

‘Encircle El Gezira’

A military analyst, who spoke to Radio Dabanga under the condition of anonymity, said that the presence of SLM-MM and SLM-Tambour forces in El Gedaref “aims to encircle El Gezira”, which came under the control of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in December 2023.

“In line with the directives given by Malik Agar, vice president of the Sovereignty Council, and Blue Nile Governor Ahmed El Omda to rebel combatants to move from Ed Damazin towards El Gezira, we cannot rule out that the Minawi forces that arrived in El Gedaref are the same forces that were trained in Eritrea, and are likely to be also dispatched to El Gezira”.

Military sources told Radio Dabanga last week that six military camps have been established in the Eritrean Gash-Barka region neighbouring Sudan, where fighters of  armed groups from eastern Sudan and Darfur are being trained.