Top adviser to Sudan’s paramilitary leader says Rubio’s comments hinder truce efforts

CAIRO (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s comments calling for a halt to the flow of military support coming to Sudan’s paramilitary fighters from abroad may jeopardize global efforts aimed at reaching a ceasefire, a senior adviser to the paramilitary group’s commander said on Thursday.

Rubio said at a news conference late Wednesday that pressures were being applied to countries providing weapons to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, which has been battling the Sudanese army for more than two years. He decried the humanitarian situation in Sudan and said that “something needs to be done” to cut off the weapons and other support that the RSF is receiving.

The RSF’s recent capture of North Darfur’s capital, el-Fasher, left hundreds dead and forced tens of thousands of people to flee reported atrocities by the paramilitary force, according to aid groups and U.N. officials. The International Organization for Migration, or IOM, said that nearly 90,000 people have left el-Fasher and surrounding villages, undertaking a perilous journey through unsafe routes where they have no access to food, water or medical assistance.

Elbasha Tibeig, adviser to RSF leader Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, dismissed Rubio’s comments as “an unsuccessful step” that doesn’t serve global efforts aimed at reaching a humanitarian ceasefire.

“The other party may see these statements as a political and diplomatic victory,” he wrote on his X account in reference to the armed forces. “Instead of making statements that show bias, the U.S. administration and the international community must focus their efforts on stopping the flow of weapons coming from Iran and Turkey to the army’s militia, mercenaries and terrorist brigades.”

Tibeig warned that Rubio’s comment may lead to an escalation of the fighting.

The war between the RSF and the military began in 2023, when tensions erupted between the two former allies that were meant to oversee a democratic transition after a 2019 uprising. The fighting has killed at least 40,000 people, according to the World Health Organization, and displaced 12 million others. However, aid groups say that the true death toll could be many times higher.

Both the Sudanese Armed Forces and the RSF are accused of committing atrocities throughout the war. Several foreign powers are accused of being involved in the conflict and of providing military support to the warring parties.

For many months, U.S. intelligence assessments have found that the United Arab Emirates, a close U.S. ally, has been sending weapons to the RSF. However, the UAE has consistently denied the allegations.

When asked about it, Rubio said that the U.S. knows who’s involved in supplying the RSF.

“I can just tell you, at the highest levels of our government, that case is being made and that pressure is being applied to the relevant parties,” Rubio said, without naming any country. “This needs to stop. I mean, they’re clearly receiving assistance from outside.”

Although Egypt has denied providing weapons to Sudan’s armed forces, Egypt likely give them a batch of fighter jets in March, and also provided them with Turkish drones, according to the Institute for the Study of War, a nonprofit policy research organization

Earlier this week, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty expressed the country’s unequivocal support to Sudan’s armed forces after a meeting with the army chief Abdel-Fattah Burhan in the Red Sea city of Port Sudan.

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres also said on Thursday that the flow of weapons and fighters from external parties must stop, urging the warring sides to take “swift and tangible” steps towards a settlement.

The battle front lines have recently shifted to other parts of the country, namely the Kordofan region. In recent days, the fighting has intensified around the city of Babanusa, which houses the headquarters of the army’s last infantry division in the province of West Kordofan. On Thursday, the Sudanese army thwarted attacks by the RSF on its infantry base, according to a military official who spoke on condition of anonymity to freely discuss the matter.

Earlier on Thursday, the RSF had vowed to wrestle the city from its rivals within a few hours, according to their Telegram channel.

In January 2024, Babanusa witnessed intense fighting between the RSF and the armed forces, which resulted in a mass exodus of its civilian population. Eventually, the RSF withdrew its troops, but has been laying siege to the city since then. The city sits along a critical supply line to the army’s strongholds in other parts of the Kordofan region.

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Fatma Khaled in Cairo, and Matthew Lee in Washington, contributed to this report.