SAF-RSF war of words as Sudan POW transfer ‘called off’

In a war of words as fierce as the fighting on the ground, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have issued contradictory statements regarding a proposed transfer of hundreds of prisoners of war. The transfer, to coincide with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, was purportedly to be facilitated by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), however, the organisation has declined to confirm or deny the reports, saying: “Our dialogue with the parties to the conflict is confidential…”

As reported by Radio Dabanga yesterday, in a press statement via X (formerly Twitter), the RSF says it “strongly condemns and deeply regrets the current situation within the SAF, wherein leadership has declined to accept 537 SAF prisoners of war in our custody”.

The RSF says the prisoners include members of the SAF and other regular forces. “Our offer to return these individuals as a gesture of goodwill during the holy month of Ramadan was unfortunately refused,” the RSF laments.

“Initially, the ICRC agreed to facilitate this process and approached the SAF to finalise the transfer. However, the SAF leadership refused to accept our proposal to return their personnel as a sign of goodwill during Ramadan, as well as our previous unilateral initiatives since the current crisis began,” the RSF claims, adding that “the SAF Command’s prior orders to attack areas in Khartoum under RSF protection where prisoners were located led to numerous casualties, eliciting disappointment and dismay among the general public”.

However, in a later counterstatement via X, the SAF accuses the RSF of “continuation of its familiar pattern of releasing misinformation and falsifying the truth”.

Calling the RSF as the “Dagalo terrorist militia” in reference to its commander Lt Gen Mohamed ‘Hemedti’ Dagalo, the statement says: “The armed forces would like to clarify that it did not receive any communication, through call or in writing, from [any] international organisation…”

The SAF statement claims that “what the Dalgo terrorist militia stated are lies… which proved it is merely a tool to carry out an immoral project built and continues to be built on repeatedly lies and falsifying facts…”

Responding to questions from Radio Dabanga regarding the veracity of the SAF and RSF claims, the ICRC regional spokesperson for Africa would neither confirm nor deny either report. “Our dialogue with the parties to the conflict is confidential, so we will not be able to provide specific details about any discussions…”

The spokesperson told Radio Dabanga: “The ICRC, in its neutral intermediary role, can facilitate release of people detained based on an explicit request and agreement between parties to the conflict. Such operations need the agreement of all sides and security guarantees for ICRC teams to operate. Once an agreement is reached, the parties can ask the ICRC for assistance in facilitating the release and transfer of detainees, in accordance with its neutral, impartial, and humanitarian role.” The ICRC spokesperson points out: “Last year, the ICRC facilitated the release of 565 detainees in Khartoum, West Darfur, Central Darfur, North Darfur, and South Darfur in 13 release operations.”