KARTOUM, Sudan
The Third Front, known as Tamazuj, on Thursday, declared its formal alliance with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the ongoing battle against the Sudanese army.
Tamazuj is one of the armed
groups that inked the Juba Peace Agreement in 2020. However, the group remained
isolated and unpopular following claims that it might have been engineered by
military intelligence.
“The Tamazuj movement
officially declares its engagement in the struggle alongside the Rapid Support
Forces against the remnants of the former regime. These elements manipulated
the armed forces to secure their ascent to power and revive the oppressive
totalitarian regime,” reads a statement signed by the group leader Mohamed Ali
Qureshi.
Qureshi instructed all forces
under the Movement’s banner, spanning the Darfur and Kordofan border regions,
to immediately converge at the RSF camps and posts.
Despite its victories after
the eruption of the fighting, the RSF is now facing attacks by the Sudanese
army in Khartoum state which is deserted by its residents.
The group is also affected by
the looting, war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by its troops.
Commenting on the ongoing
regional and international efforts to end the conflict, Qureshi criticized the
“unfeasible terms” established by the armed forces for negotiations with the
paramilitary forces. He contended that this indicated their continued
entanglement with the former regime.
Before the war, Mohamed Hamdan
Daglo, the Commander of the Rapid Support Forces, had accused Tamazuj of
orchestrating tribal conflicts that unfolded in El Geneina city in 2022. He had
also announced the apprehension and imprisonment of several of the group’s
members.
However, within days of the
onset of hostilities between the Sudanese army and the RSF on April 15, a
number of Tamazuj movement leaders, including Ahmed Qajah, the Commander of
Tamazuj forces in Darfur, was the first of the group’s leaders to join the RSF
ranks.
Comprising Arab factions from
Darfur and Kordofan, the movement had formerly battled against the SPLM as part
of local militias that the army had fostered in various capacities to counter
rebel groups.
Following the Juba Peace
Agreement, the Tamazuj leadership persisted in their demands for treatment akin
to leaders of other signatory movements. They voiced dissatisfaction over the
lack of privileges or government positions granted to them. They also
repeatedly threatened to rebel against the government.
The Third Front was also
rejected by both the signatory movements to the Juba peace deal.
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