Tamazuj group aligns with RSF in Sudan’s ongoing war

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.