Abdelrahim Dagalo, the deputy leader of Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF), said on Thursday that he considers the sanctions imposed on him by the United States to be “unfair.”
During a visit to the Chad-Sudan border, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations revealed that the United States has taken action against Dagalo due to his involvement in alleged human rights violations amid the backdrop of continued violence in Sudan, prompting hundreds of thousands of refugees to seek safety in neighboring Chad.
War broke out in Sudan on April 15 – four years after a popular uprising ousted dictator Omar al-Bashir. Tensions between the army (SAF) and RSF, which jointly removed him from in a coup in 2021, erupted into fighting over a plan to integrate their forces as part of a transition to civilian rule.
In a late-night development on Wednesday, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, Sudan’s military ruler, issued a constitutional decree mandating the dissolution of the RSF (Rapid Support Forces).
Dagalo stated in an interview with British/Arabic broadcaster that he believes General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, Sudan’s military ruler, lacks the legitimacy to issue a constitutional decree dissolving the RSF.
“Now we have stores of weapons and supplies belonging to the armed forces (…) that could last us 20 years,” he added.
According to the United Nations, since April, approximately 380,000 refugees, predominantly women and children, have sought refuge in Chad due to the conflict. Furthermore, hundreds of thousands have also fled to countries including the Central African Republic, Egypt, Ethiopia, and South Sudan.
