Sudan’s Ministers announce ‘decisive campaign’ against armed movements

Both the Sudanese Ministers of Defence and Interior as well as the Advisor to the President, Nafie Ali Nafie, on separate occasions on 11 November, announced that the Sudanese Armed Forces, under the supervision of President Omar Al Bashir, have started advancing on rebel positions in Darfur and South Kordofan. The move is to be seen as “a preparation for the implementation of a major campaign for the final elimination of all armed movements”. Nafie warned that the coming period will be “hot and decisive for the rebels”. The Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF, a coalition of Sudanese rebel movements) confirmed its knowledge of the military plans. Yasir Arman, the SRF Foreign Relations Secretary, currently on an official visit in Berlin, reported to Radio Dabanga that the Sudanese government has brought in foreign mercenaries to Darfur for this campaign; “some from Mali and a somefrom Al Qaeda in other countries”. According to Arman, “some Sudanese tribes were recruited too” and “large numbers of Japanese Toyota Land Cruisers have been imported via another country”. Arman also said that the Khartoum regime has purchased heavy weapons from Iran and hired Iranian military instructors. He warned that the regime “will use these against Sudanese civilians in general, as well as for a renewed genocide campaign in Darfur, the Nuba Mountains in South Kordofan and the Blue Nile in particular”. The SRF Secretary appealed to “the armed forces and those Sudanese recruited by the regime to distantiate themselves from the regime’s policies”. File photo: Sudanese Armed Forces troops in Blue Nile State