Khartoum- Observers considered that the recent decisions of the Sudanese Minister of Defense, Yassin Ibrahim, aim to relieve pressure on the army’s supreme command, which is facing criticism for failing to protect retired officers from kidnapping by the Rapid Support Forces, and the increase in looting and vandalism in residential neighborhoods in the absence of the police.
The Sudanese Ministry of Defense called on retirees of the armed forces and “all those who are able to bear arms” to go to the nearest military command to arm them in order to secure themselves and their families, in response to the abuses of the Rapid Support Forces against civilians and army retirees, and what it described as “humiliating the symbols of the state.”
Sudanese Defense Minister Yassin Ibrahim Yassin said – in a statement by the ministry – “We call on all retirees of the armed forces, including officers, non-commissioned officers and soldiers, and all those who are able to bear arms to go to the nearest military command to arm them in order to secure themselves, their sanctities and their neighbors, and protect their honor, and work according to the plans of these areas.”
He added that this call came after “the rebel forces persisted in humiliating the symbols of the state, including writers, journalists, judges, doctors, families, chasing and arresting retired regular forces.”
Commenting on this decision, the Rapid Support Forces said that the Sudanese army’s announcement of general mobilization by arming its retirees “reflects its failure on the battlefield.”
Weapon controls
A military adviser at the Ministry of Defense considered the decisions as a call to the reserve forces, pointing out that those who are armed from the military will not participate in the fighting, but they help maintain security in the neighborhoods after the spread of looting and robbery gangs and some Rapid Support rebels who terrorize citizens and loot cars, money and valuables.
In an interview with Al-Jazeera Net, the military advisor stated that they had monitored the rapid support rebels targeting retired senior police and intelligence officers, kidnapping a group of their homes, and looting and vandalizing the homes of those who did not find them, explaining that the last of them was a medical officer with the rank of major general who was working in the military hospital and retired more than a year ago. 20 years old, where he was kidnapped from his home in Al-Masalma neighborhood in Omdurman, forced to wear a military uniform and photographed as a prisoner.
He added that a large number of the Rapid Support Forces abandoned their military vehicles for fear of being targeted by the army, and looted hundreds of cars from citizens to use them in their movements, and that others fled with them to Darfur and they were spotted in western Omdurman, which requires arming citizens who are able to carry weapons according to controls. Strict so as not to leak into the hands of the rebels or be used for purposes other than protecting lives and property, stressing the collection of weapons after the end of the war.
Take the pressure off driving
In turn, the military expert Musa Abdullah noted that the Minister of Defense, Lieutenant General Yassin Ibrahim, has remained silent since the outbreak of the fighting and rumors circulated of his rejection of the war, but he was exiled from the army earlier, expecting that a decision from him to arm army retirees would be a practical response to the rumors that continued to haunt him in He remained silent and away from the media spotlight.
In an interview with Al-Jazeera Net, the military expert believes that the decision of the Minister of Defense – which practically means calling up the reserve forces and announcing general mobilization – was delayed and came more than 40 days after the start of the confrontations, after the Supreme Military Command was criticized for negligence towards what is happening to some retired officers and the failure to protect citizens. .
Abdullah explained that “the urban war takes place in stages of breaking the enemy’s solid strength, striking its bases, cutting its supply lines, and then pounces on it.” He believes that the army is currently planning for the final stage, but the balance of power can change if the other party changes its tactics and plans to achieve specific operations that restore Balanced, he received support, which could prolong the war.
Fears of chaos
On the other hand, political analyst Sami Abdel Nasser believes that arming retired officers and soldiers is common in wars, but arming civilians could drag the country into chaos and civil war.
And the political analyst says to Al-Jazeera Net that the majority of those who committed the looting of markets and burned factories, shops and companies are from the poor class who live on the outskirts of the capital’s cities, and they are victims of society and the state’s neglect and social injustice, and if they feel that the arming of citizens is targeting them, this will push them to arm themselves, which It leads to clash and civil war.
Abdel Nasser warns of the “militarization of society”, as some tribes in the different regions in the west and east of the country own weapons, and millions of weapons are spread in the hands of citizens, and the distribution of more weapons threatens to spread on a large scale that is difficult to control.
popular resistance
Robbery and armed robbery have escalated in the three cities of the capital during the past period, in the absence of the police, who have disappeared and closed their stations since the beginning of the war in mid-April.
Initiatives emerged in some neighborhoods of Khartoum State and found interest in social media, as citizens of the “Umbada al-Sabil” area in Omdurman closed the neighborhood’s roads with stones and potholes to prevent the entry of the Rapid Support Forces.
The youth of the “Al-Juraif West” area in eastern Khartoum formed groups that roamed around at night to prevent thieves and looting gangs, amidst the ululation of neighborhood women and the encouragement of the elderly.
Residents of the northern Al-Mujahideen neighborhood in southeastern Khartoum distributed a whistle to each house, to alert the rest of the population if they noticed the movement of people from outside the neighborhood or any house was attacked, and the use of loudspeakers in mosques to alert citizens in the event of looting or an attack on homes by gangs.
In the Soba area, east of the Nile, citizens organized patrols at night after an attempt to steal cars by armed groups wearing the Rapid Support uniforms. They also closed the neighborhood’s internal roads with stones to prevent the movement of any cars aimed at looting homes, which limited looting.