The leader of Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has declared his fighters ready to wage war for decades against the regular army, warning that his forces remain entrenched around the capital despite being largely driven out last year.
Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, widely known as Hemedti, issued the stark warning during a late-night address to soldiers at an undisclosed location on Wednesday, framing the conflict as a prolonged struggle that could stretch across generations.
His defiant stance comes as drone attacks escalate across Sudan, displacing millions and pushing the nation deeper into what the United Nations has described as the world’s most severe humanitarian catastrophe. The remarks signal a hardening of positions on both sides, with neither the paramilitary nor the army showing willingness to compromise despite mounting international pressure for a ceasefire.
Paramilitary Leader Defiant Amid Escalating Tensions
Dagalo told his troops that his forces do not desire a prolonged war, yet he made clear that the RSF would match any timeline set by their adversaries.
“We do not want this war to continue,”
he said to the assembled soldiers.
“But if they [the army] want it to go on for 40 years, it will continue until they are uprooted.”
The paramilitary chief revealed that some RSF units had not fully withdrawn from the capital region after being ousted by the army last year, and were still positioned on the outskirts of Omdurman, which sits across the Nile river from central Khartoum.
His comments underscore the persistent threat to the capital even after the army declared it recaptured, with the paramilitary maintaining a strategic foothold in the area.
Regional Powers Drawn Into Allegations Of Foreign Intervention
The rhetoric from Dagalo came just one day after Sudan’s army-aligned government leveled explosive accusations against two regional powers, claiming that Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates had been conducting drone strikes across multiple Sudanese states since March from bases inside Ethiopian territory.
The government specifically cited attacks on Monday that targeted Khartoum and its airport, strikes that would represent a significant escalation in foreign involvement if proven true.
The United Arab Emirates has faced repeated accusations from Sudanese officials of arming the RSF, allegations that Abu Dhabi has consistently denied.
Ethiopia has also rejected claims that it is hosting RSF and UAE forces on its soil, with both countries firmly denying any role in the reported drone strikes.
The details of these alleged attacks could not be independently verified, leaving the claims shrouded in uncertainty amid an already complex information environment.
Capital City Grapples With Renewed Violence And Humanitarian Desperation
Khartoum had experienced a period of relative calm following the army’s recapture of the city, but that fragile peace has shattered in recent weeks under a barrage of drone strikes.
On Saturday, a drone attack killed five civilians traveling in a vehicle in southern Omdurman, adding to the civilian toll in a city struggling to rebuild.
Last week, another strike damaged a hospital, further straining medical services in a region where infrastructure has been decimated by years of fighting.
More than 1.8 million displaced people have returned to Khartoum since the army regained control, according to United Nations figures, lured back by the promise of stability.
Those returnees have found a city in ruins, with dilapidated buildings, collapsed services, and severely limited access to electricity and clean water.
The United Nations reports that drone attacks by both warring parties have intensified dramatically across Sudan in recent months, killing nearly 700 civilians since January alone.
The conflict, now grinding through its fourth year, has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced millions of Sudanese from their homes.
The United Nations has officially classified the situation as the world’s largest displacement crisis and the most severe hunger emergency globally.
Diplomatic Efforts Collapse As Military Leaders Refuse Compromise
International mediators have struggled to halt the bloodshed, with efforts led by the United States, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt, a coalition known as the Quad, failing to secure even a temporary humanitarian ceasefire.
Army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan has adopted an equally uncompromising posture to his paramilitary rival, repeatedly stating that his forces will fight until achieving total victory.
He has insisted that the war cannot end unless the RSF unconditionally surrenders its weapons, a demand that leaves no room for negotiated settlement.
With both sides entrenched in maximalist positions, the prospect of a political solution appears increasingly distant.
Beyond the capital, fierce clashes continue to rage across multiple fronts, including in southern Kordofan and Blue Nile state near the Ethiopian border.
The fighting in these peripheral regions threatens to draw in neighboring countries and further destabilize an already fragile Horn of Africa.
As the war drags into another year, Sudanese civilians bear the brunt of a conflict that shows no sign of abating, with both military leaders trading threats of endless war while international diplomacy falters.