Tensions are reportedly escalating between Sudanese army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the Joint Forces fighting alongside the military, particularly forces loyal to Sudan Liberation Movement leader Minni Arko Minnawi.
Senior sources within the Port Sudan authorities said Burhan had recently refused to meet Minnawi, a move that further aggravated an already strained relationship between the two men.
“Burhan no longer wants to meet Minnawi,” a government source said, describing growing frustration inside the army leadership.
A source close to Minnawi told Al-Sudania News that the dispute was primarily political. According to the source, Minnawi has been seeking new domestic and international alliances independently of the army, whose leadership is heavily influenced by Sudan’s Islamist movement.
The source said Minnawi’s recent political contacts and foreign activities had also conflicted with the positions of the Port Sudan administration and Islamist figures dominating the military command.
As a result, the army leadership reportedly suspended direct meetings with Minnawi and halted funding allocated to his forces.
Sources said Burhan instructed Finance Minister Jibril Ibrahim not to release payments earmarked for Minnawi’s troops, worsening financial pressure and resentment within the Joint Forces.
The dispute has also been fuelled by alleged abuses and repeated violations involving Joint Forces personnel, as well as their refusal to comply fully with army orders.
Burhan reportedly ordered the forces to leave Khartoum and withdraw from civilian population centres in River Nile and Northern states before redeploying to front lines around the city of El Obeid.
However, a significant number of fighters rejected the instructions. About 180 combat vehicles reportedly left Al-Dabbah in Northern State and headed towards Darfur, with sources saying the units were unlikely to return to northern Sudan.
The developments have placed Minnawi under growing military, political and financial pressure, while narrowing his room for manoeuvre within the Port Sudan alliance.
Sources close to Minnawi’s movement acknowledged that repeated violations attributed to Joint Forces units were at the centre of the dispute. They said Minnawi had so far rejected proposed solutions.
Burhan has also reportedly refused to hold talks with senior Joint Forces commanders at a time when other influential armed figures, including Musa Hilal, Al-Nur Quba and Safna, are re-emerging.
Joint Forces leaders reportedly fear that the army is preparing to replace them with alternative militias as part of a broader strategy to reshape its network of armed allies.
Local media have previously reported that the army has increasingly taken direct control of military and political affairs, reducing the influence of allied factions over decision-making as power is consolidated within the Port Sudan authorities.
Minnawi has sought to broaden his political options by contacting civilian groups and holding meetings in Berlin and Addis Ababa, according to the sources.
Those moves were described as an effort to reduce his growing political isolation as the army strengthens its control over security and strategic files and conducts negotiations without his direct involvement.
