Two political analysts who spoke to “Sky News Arabia” call for an immediate end to the conflict between the army and the Rapid Support Forces, to avoid reaching this fate, listing the reasons why Sudan is now an “opportunity “for terrorism.
Sudanese political analyst Faisal Yassin lays out what attracts terrorist activity to his country and makes it a “strategic target”, as he described it, saying:
The fragility of the situation on the borders of Sudan is an opportunity for terrorist elements to infiltrate, create assembly points, and form cells on the borders or on the outskirts of Khartoum. The Darfur region, in the west of the country, is an area of ​​internal conflict, unstable, and a transit point for terrorists to and from Sudan, especially since it shares borders with Libya, South Sudan and Central Africa. One of the plans of the terrorist organization ISIS is to establish a “state” in Sudan through sleeper cells and to smuggle elements from African countries in the Sahel into Darfur. The presence of those who could provide refuge for terrorist groups inside Sudan, and we recall in this the experience of former President Omar al-Bashir harboring Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda, and other terrorist leaders. The Brotherhood in Sudan can recruit its members from other terrorist groups, with their desire to return to power. The current humanitarian and economic situation in Sudan prompts terrorist groups to try to lure people with money to join them.
4 areas to move
The vast area of ​​Sudan (1,882,000 million square kilometers), with its security chaos, tempts terrorists with its ease of movement, and Yassin identifies precisely 4 “strategic areas” targeted:
To the west, the Darfur region, due to its proximity to the African Sahel region, in which the terrorists have acquired great influence. To the east, the Red Sea states, Kassala and Gedaref are on the border between Eritrea and Ethiopia, notably with the presence of the Eritrean Islamic Jihad Movement, supported by Al-Bashir and Hassan Al-Turabi, and is linked to Al-Qaeda in Yemen and the Al-Shabaab terrorist movement in Somalia. In the southeast, on the border with Ethiopia, where there is terrorist activity revealed by the arrest of the “Al-Dinder” cell, which took the border reserve of Al-Dinder as a training site. The fourth region is the outskirts of the capital, Khartoum.
enticing wealth
As Munir Adeeb, a researcher on political Islam and international terrorism, described Sudan as “a fertile environment for terrorism, whether through the immigration of terrorists or the formation of extremist Sudanese terrorist cells”. Adeeb adds to the reasons mentioned by Yassin other points, such as the fact that the wealth of Sudan, rich in gold and agriculture, is an attractive factor for terrorist groups to obtain funding. Similarly, Sudan is a center among the countries where terrorist groups have fun, such as Libya, Yemen, Somalia and the African coast.
Previous terrorist incidents
Over the past ten years, Sudan has witnessed attempts by terrorist groups to manipulate it and neighboring countries, including, according to Faisal Yassin: In 2012, the authorities arrested the “Al-Dinder” cell, which was preparing to send its fighters to Somalia, Libya, Iraq, Syria and Mali. In September 2021, the security services killed 4 ISIS operatives, two men and two women of Egyptian nationality, in the suburb of Jabra, south of Khartoum, as part of 4 ISIS cells in “ Jabra”. From 2014 to 2018, al-Qaeda and ISIS attracted Sudanese university students and Sudanese students studying in Britain. Which means the possibility of coming back to recruit other numbers.
On Monday, the Special Representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations in Sudan, Volker Peretz, announced that the two warring parties in Sudan have agreed to start negotiations, in order to find solutions to the war which has opposed them for 15 april.
Perthes explained that “the negotiations will initially focus on achieving a permanent and reliable ceasefire monitored locally and internationally”, and “the technical details of the negotiations are still being worked out”.
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