All bank accounts connected to a competing paramilitary group must be frozen, according to the military head of Sudan. Weeks of fighting between the two factions have brought Sudan, a troubled nation, dangerously close to civil war.
The Rapid Support Forces official accounts in Sudanese banks as well as the accounts of all the group’s firms would be the target of the order, which was issued on Sunday by Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, according to the official news agency SUNA.
It remains unclear what immediate effect the freezing would have on the RSF and how Burhan’s orders are to be enforced.
How Burhan’s directions are to be carried out and what immediate impact the freezing would have on the RSF are yet unknown.
In addition to replacing the governor of the Sudanese Central Bank, the military head also made an announcement that was probably related to the freezing order. The RSF acquired significant riches during the last ten years by gradually acquiring financial institutions and gold reserves in Sudan.
The Sudanese army, under the command of Burhan, and the RSF, under the command of Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, have been engaged in a power war since mid-April that has caused thousands of people to flee to nearby nations.
Since the fighting started, much of the nation has descended into chaos. The western Darfur region is being shaken by violent tribal warfare, and the capital city of Khartoum has been turned to an urban battlefield. According to the WHO, more than 600 people have also died as a result of the violence, including civilians.
Human rights groups have accused the RSF of indiscriminately bombing residential areas and of rampant looting and attacks against civilians. Since the combat began, the two sides have agreed to multiple brief cease-fires; however, each was broken. Both parties have traded charges of violating human rights and responsibility.
The military and the RSF agreed to a deal last Thursday in the Saudi city of Jeddah, agreeing to preserve humanitarian efforts in the country of East Africa and provide safe passage for civilians escaping the fighting. To make the ceasefire reached on Thursday into a permanent truce, international efforts are being made, led by Saudi Arabia and the United States.
