Gen Mohamed Dagalo, commander of Sudan's powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, has been sworn in as the head of a parallel government based in Darfur, a symbolic but significant step towards potential partition of the war-ravaged country.
The RSF has been fighting the Sudanese army since April 2023 in a civil war that has killed tens of thousands, displaced more than 13 million and caused a grave humanitarian crisis that has left half of Sudan's 50 million people hungry.
Gen Dagalo was sworn in in Nyala, one of Sudan's largest cities, in the western Darfur region, most of which is controlled by the RSF, the paramilitary said. He was sworn in by the head of the judiciary, judge Ramadan Shimila, it said.
"This is the beginning of the end of suffering by the Sudanese people as a result of displacement and exile," Gen Dagalo said. He also vowed to create a secular and democratic Sudan where the law reigns above all.
Later on Saturday, 13 members of a presidential council appointed by Gen Dagalo were sworn in by him and Mr Shimila. They include eight provincial governors, some of whom are in charge of areas under army control.
Nyala has been serving as the de facto capital for the RSF. Media reports said an army drone hit several targets in the city just hours before the swearing-in ceremony. No other details were available.
Although the RSF controls most of Darfur, it has been fighting the army and its allies for control of the city of El Fasher, which the paramilitary has besieged since May last year. The army and its local allies have held firm thus far.
The fight for El Fasher has created one of the worst hunger pockets in Sudan, with residents reportedly eating animal feed. Hundreds of civilians, including children, have been killed in the crossfire.
Yale Humanitarian Lab said satellite imagery showed the RSF had constructed physical barriers around the city, preventing civilians from leaving. Those who have managed to escape report violent attacks and robberies by RSF soldiers.
Both the army and the RSF have been accused of war crimes throughout the civil war, with the RSF facing charges of ethnic cleansing in Darfur. The army is accused of killing thousands of civilians in air strikes and artillery shelling as well as extrajudicial killings of civilians by its allies in areas retaken from the RSF.
The Sudanese army regained control of the capital Khartoum as well as central and eastern regions of Sudan earlier this year, leaving the RSF with only Darfur and parts of Kordofan.
A recently appointed, military-backed government sits in Port Sudan on the Red Sea in the eastern part of the country. The new administration held its first meeting last week.
Al Shafie Ahmed reported from Kampala, Uganda
