Sudanese army reformists scorn RSF militias

The reformist movement within the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) has emphasised that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militias led by Hemeti act under the authority of the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) and have no relationship with the SAF. “The RSF are paid, and given great incentives. The leaders indiscriminately distribute ranks without any discipline.” In a statement, the reformists questioned “how the militia commander Hemeti could hold the rank of a Brigadier while he is an illiterate, who received his only education at a local Koran school”. The reformists responded to a statement by SAF spokesman Colonel El Sawarmi Khaled Saad, who said that “the RSF militias are being subjected to a campaign as malicious as the one against the Popular Defence Forces (PDF),” and that “the RSF have achieved great victories without receiving incentives for performing their tasks.” The reformists contend that the militias are indeed “paid great incentives while the political leadership has neglected hundreds of SAF officers and soldiers, leaving them with nothing to eat”. The statement recalled that “when the PDF were formed in 1992, El Sawarmi Khaled Saad was still a student at the University of Ghuran. The PDF were commanded by the SAF, unlike the paid RSF, who depend on banditry, rape, and killing civilians in cold blood. The RSF failed when rebel forces managed to kill Hemeti’s second-in-command in the battle of Daldako. The militias retreated, and left their leader behind in flagrant violation of the simplest military rules.” File photo: Sudanese President Omar Al Bashir inspects SAF troops                 Related: Militia commander killed in South Kordofan battle (26 May 2014) Sudan army reformists demand dissolution of militias (18 May 2014)