In Sudan, many hands could make heavy war — or peace

People waiting with their luggage on the dockside of Port Sudan, ahead of their evacuation by sea amid ongoing deadly clashes between the rival forces. — AFP

THE war unfolding in Sudan is an internal conflict in danger of going global. Finding a sustainable peace will require convincing many countries with a stake in Sudan’s future that they are better off with a partner at peace than one at war.

The conflict is a power struggle between General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, who leads the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, and Geneneral Abdel Fattah Burhan, who heads the Sudanese army and is the country’s de facto leader. Each leads a sizable armed force and, since Omar al-Bashir’s ouster in 2019, the two have oscillated between consolidating military power and negotiating a civilian transition. This came to a head last month when they couldn’t agree to terms for integrating their armies into a single national force.