Former UN envoy to Sudan, Volker Perthes, warned that the ongoing conflict in the country could escalate into a civil war due to the mobilization of various tribal and ethnic groups. He stated, “I fear we may see more than one government in the future.”
Perthes described the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) as an ethnically-based private militia loyal to the Hemedti family. He characterized the alliance between Abdelaziz al-Hilu and Hemedti as “temporary,” noting that the two do not share a common governance agenda and asserting that the alliance is bound to collapse again.
He stressed that the conflict in Sudan has become one of the world’s largest humanitarian disasters and said the military’s recent advances have shifted the tone of international discourse.
Perthes also remarked that the military leaders are capable of reaching and implementing a ceasefire agreement.
