Is Sudan heading for civil war? Since last Saturday, the country has been caught in the crossfire of an argument between top brass. Neither junta leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan nor his nominal number two Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo seem ready to listen to outside mediation attempts. The longer the death match continues, the greater the risk that armed factions at home and abroad get drawn in.
Dagalo – better known as Hemedti – has released captured Egyptian soldiers, whose presence serves as a reminder that his rival did his officer's training with Egypt's coup leader-turned-president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
In the four years since the revolution that ousted longtime strongman Omar al-Bashir, Hemedti has courted outside backers of his own: doing a deal with Russia’s Wagner to secure gold mining, sending mercenaries to fight in the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen and also in Libya, whose rebel strongman denies a report he sent ammunition to Hemedti this week. Could Sudan descend into both civil war and a proxy war?
Produced by Alessandro Xenos, Juliette Laurain and Imen Mellaz.
