Sudan crisis: Burhan freezes bank accounts of Hemeti’s RSF group

Sudan‘s military leader General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan issued a decision to freeze the bank accounts of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) group and its affiliated companies, his office said in a statement on Sunday.

Since mid-April, the RSF, whose chief Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, better known as Hemeti, has been locked in a deadly conflict with the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), which Burhan commands as Sudan’s de facto head of state. 

The conflict between the RSF and the SAF was triggered by a dispute over the paramilitary’s incorporation into the Sudanese military as part of an internationally-mediated deal to kickstart Sudan’s transition back to civilian government.

The deal was meant to be signed at the beginning of April. Instead, the two generals, whose rivalry had been growing ever more intense, went to war.

Meanwhile, General Burhan also sacked central bank governor Hussain Yahia Jankol.

Borai El Siddiq, who is one of Jankol’s deputies, has replaced the outgoing governor, Burhan’s office said in a statement on Sunday.

The reason for Jankol’s sacking was not immediately clear. 

Brokering a ceasefire

Earlier this week, a “declaration of commitment” was signed in Jeddah by Sudan’s warring factions, following nearly a week of talks mediated by hosts Saudi Arabia and the United States. 

The declaration, however, was not a ceasefire and the RSF resumed attacks on Khartoum days later, with air strikes and artillery rounds pummelling the capital.

Talks are due to resume in Saudi Arabia on Sunday, with Saudi Arabia and the US working towards brokering a permanent ceasefire, as none of the six humanitarian ceasefires announced by the two mediators during the course of the conflict have held so far.

The conflict that broke out a month ago has killed hundreds of people, sent more than 200,000 into neighbouring states, displaced another 700,000 inside the country, and risks drawing in outside powers and destabilising the region.