Governor of Sudan's Darfur region tells citizens to take up arms

US and Saudi Arabia call for extension of week-long truce expiring Monday night

A group of Sudanese from Darfur seek refuge in Chad to escape the fighting. Reuters

The Governor of Sudan's turbulent Darfur region, Mini Miniawi, is calling on residents to arm themselves for self-protection, an ominous move that comes amid intensifying fighting in the vast and mostly desert area.

The call by Mr Miniawi, a former rebel leader, comes just two days after national army chief Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan called up reservists and retired soldiers to join the six-week-old fight against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces of his former ally, Gen Mohamed Dagalo.

The Defence Ministry in Khartoum has also called on able-bodied men and retired soldiers to go to the nearest army base to be armed to protect themselves, their families and property against looters, who are widely believed to be members of the RSF or criminal gangs.

Worshippers at a mosque in Khartoum's Jabra neighbourhood, on May 28, 2023. AFP

Much of the fighting in Sudan, which began on April 15, has been focused in Khartoum and Darfur, which borders with Chad and was the battlefield of a civil war in the 2000s, when the RSF's forerunner, the Janjaweed militia, fought on the government's side against African rebels.

The violence left 300,000 dead and displaced 2.5 million, according to UN estimates.

Darfur saw renewed tribal and ethnic violence after Gen Al Burhan and Gen Dagalo jointly staged a coup in 2021 that upended Sudan's democratic transition and plunged the nation into political and economic crises, as well as creating a security vacuum in outlying regions including Darfur and Blue Nile in the south.

That latest violence killed hundreds and displaced tens of thousands.

Mr Miniawi has declared his support for the army in its fight against the RSF.

His men are now fighting the RSF in Darfur, which is known to be awash with weapons. The fighting in Darfur has killed hundreds and displaced tens of thousands who sought refuge in neighbouring Chad.

Mr Miniawi's call on citizens of Darfur to arm themselves came in a tweet he posted on Sunday.

"There are many who do not wish for the safety or rights of citizens and deliberately sabotage national institutions," he wrote.

"I call on all our honourable citizens, the people of Darfur, old and young, men and women, to take up arms to protect their property."

Mr Miniawi and Gen Al Burhan's calls do not bode well for a close end to the fighting in Sudan. A week-long ceasefire mediated by the US and Saudi Arabia expires on Monday night.

The fighting across Sudan has killed more than 1,800 people in the past six weeks, according to some estimates. The death toll could be much higher.

The UN says more than a million people have been displaced within Sudan, and 319,000 have fled to neighbouring countries which also include Egypt and South Sudan.

Also on Sunday, Saudi Arabia and the US called for the extension of the ceasefire, which has brought relative calm in Khartoum but little humanitarian relief for the millions trapped in the city with little water, food, power or medical care, and having to fend off looters.

A man and child walks along a street in Omdurman, Khartoum's twin city across the Nile, on May 28.

There were clashes overnight in Khartoum and its adjoining sister city Omdurman across the Nile.

"While imperfect, an extension nonetheless will facilitate the delivery of urgently needed humanitarian assistance to the Sudanese people," Saudi Arabia and the US said in a joint statement.

They also warned that both sides appeared to be preparing themselves for an escalation in the fighting.

The RSF has said it is ready to discuss the possibility of renewing the truce, while the army said it was considering it.