A cross-section of the youth in Sudan’s East Darfur State capital, El Daein, have appealed to the Commander-in-Chief who doubles as Sudan’s de facto ruler, General Abdel Fattah Al Burhan, and the Commander of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, to direct their forces in El Daein to refrain from engaging each other.
They said any skirmishes or all-out fighting would lead to the regrettable loss of innocent lives and destroy the city.
The RSF stationed about 300 four-wheel drive vehicles mounted with machine guns, canons, and other types of munitions on the outskirts of El Daein town on Wednesday night in an apparent preparation to attack SAF’s Twentieth Infantry Division which is based in the town.
A youthful resident of Al-Daein, Jamil Allah Al-Sadiq, told Radio Tamazuj on Thursday that he is begging the leaders of the warring parties to be compassionate to the town’s innocent inhabitants and the IDPs that have sought refuge there
“I appeal to both sides of the war, especially Al-Burhan, and Hemedti, to direct their forces in El-Daein not to confront each other, taking into account the conditions of the displaced people who fled from cities that witnessed the war,” he implored.
He said that Al-Daein has been safe and stable thus far and that security must be maintained.
Another resident, Hussein Al-Sayeed, said that they simply do not want war.
“We in Al-Daein reject war in the city, and both sides must fight far away from us,” he asserted.
He noted that all the wounded, sick, and displaced from the other neighboring states that witnessed war were being treated in hospitals in Al Daein.
A Radio Tamazuj correspondent observed a large column of RSF combat vehicles in the northern and western vicinity of the town of El Daein.
Meanwhile, the native administration of the Rizeigat tribe led by Nazir Mahmoud Musa Madibo, has been holding continuous meetings with the warring parties to spare the city from clashes. The tribal leaders say the town will be destroyed in the event of fighting.
According to a Rizeigat tribesman who is privy to the goings on but preferred to speak on condition of anonymity, the RSF gave a condition that the SAF Division withdraw through a safe exit or join their ranks.
A member of the RSF ruled out that the city would be charged and looted if they engaged the SAF, saying that they had developed a plan to secure the market and the city using their forces present in the Al-Daein sector. He said the RSF moving from Nyala would be the ones to attack the SAF troops in the town.
Mediation by the the Rizeigat leader, Nazir, and several local chiefs, has so far succeeded in delaying clashes between the adversaries.
Since the start of the war in Sudan in mid-April, Al Daein has remained largely safe and has become a haven for displaced people from Nyala, Zalingei, Khartoum, and other areas affected by the war.