Sudan’s military leader Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan on late Wednesday issued a decree to dissolve the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Gen. Al-Burhan, who also chairs the country’s ruling Sovereignty Council, directed the leadership of the organized forces and the relevant authorities to immediately implement the order to dissolve the RSF.
The decision came “as a consequence of the rebellion of these forces on the state and the grave violations they committed against citizens, and the deliberate sabotage of the country’s infrastructure,” said a Sovereignty Council statement.
RSF officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
The decree came hours after violent clashes with heavy weapons between the Sudanese army and Rapid Support Forces south of the capital, Khartoum and the city of Omdurman.
Sanctions against RSF official
Earlier, the United States imposed sanctions on the deputy leaders of Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces for alleged murders and rights abuses.
The US Treasury sanctioned RSF senior commander Abdelrahim Hamdan Daglo and the brother of Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, leader of the paramilitary RSF.
Under Abdelrahim Daglo, the Treasury said, RSF members “have engaged in acts of violence and human rights abuses, including the massacre of civilians, ethnic killings, and use of sexual violence.”
According to reports, many of the abuses took place in the Darfur region of Sudan.
Since the beginning of the war between the RSF and the Sudanese armed forces on April 15, thousands have been killed and millions displaced, especially in the capital Khartoum and Darfur region.