Sudan’s paramilitary RSF to move Egyptian troops to Khartoum

 

Sudan security forces khartoum

According to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of Sudan, Egyptian troops who were at Merowe airport when fighting broke out will be transferred to Khartoum.

 

Egyptian troops would be delivered to Cairo "once the situation permits it," the RSF stated in a statement.

 

After fighting broke out between the Sudanese military and the rebel RSF on Saturday, the RSF released a video purporting to show Egyptian soldiers who had "surrendered" to them in the northern town of Merowe, which is located roughly halfway between Khartoum and the Egyptian border.

 

The video showed a group of males chatting to RSF members in an Egyptian Arabic dialect while squatting on the ground and wearing army fatigues.

 

Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the president of Egypt, stated on Monday that Egyptian forces stationed in Sudan were only there for training with their Sudanese counterparts and not to back any of the combatants.

 

Fighting between the military and the RSF raged for a fifth day on Wednesday, with air raids and shelling rocking the capital after the failure of a United States-brokered ceasefire. The warring sides have accused each other of breaking the truce.

 

Later on Wednesday, the RSF said it was committed to a 24-hour ceasefire starting at 6pm (16:00 GMT).

 

“We confirm our full commitment to a complete ceasefire, and we hope the other party will abide by the ceasefire according to the announced time,” the RSF added in a statement.

 

It was unclear at first if the army would declare its own adherence to the truce.

 

Sudan had violence on Saturday between the forces of two generals who took control in a coup in 2021: Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the army head, and Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who leads the RSF and goes by the moniker Hemedti.

 

It followed a bitter dispute between them over the planned integration of the RSF into the regular army – a key condition for a final deal aimed at restoring Sudan’s democratic transition.

 

The fighting has killed at least 270 people and wounded more than 12,600, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Tuesday.

 

Widespread power and water outages have put many hospitals out of service and thousands have begun leaving their homes in the capital.

 

Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who on Monday presided over a meeting of the Supreme Council of Armed Forces, gave a speech that was televised by Egyptian state television during which he stated that he is in communication with the RSF to assure the safety of Egyptian soldiers serving in Sudan.

 

El-Sisi expressed his desire to return the troops as quickly as possible.

 

In order to "encourage them to accept a ceasefire and spare the blood of the Sudanese people," El-Sisi added that Egypt was in constant touch with the Sudanese army and the RSF.