Sudanese Sovereignty Council seeks to contain terrorism in country with unified army

The Sudanese Sovereignty Council is seeking to build a unified army by concluding agreements with neighboring countries as part of efforts to combat terrorism and secure the country's borders.

Rashad Khairy, a political analyst and expert on African affairs, said that the current Sudanese Sovereignty Council's determination to form military divisions affiliated with the army and unify the ranks of its national forces is a very important step, especially as the country suffers from the threat of terrorism internally and externally.

In a statement to the Reference, Khairy stressed that the Sudanese transitional government has made a great effort recently in developing all security agencies such as the intelligence and police, as well as developing the national army system and establishing military teams that have special capabilities and possess regional and international information.

Khairy explained that the Sudanese leadership faced the infiltration of a large number of ISIS elements into the country in recent months, and therefore it had to take serious steps to confront this.

Just steps on paper?

Despite the steps taken by the Sudanese leadership to get out of the security crisis afflicting the country, there are voices that believe that all the Sovereignty Council is doing are mere “steps on paper” just to silence popular anger.

Sudanese political analyst Bashir Awad said that the Sudanese leadership has announced more than once serious steps to combat terrorism, and that this issue is one of the most important challenges facing the council, but in the end, nothing happens, and we discover that it is just a “painkiller” to calm angry public opinion at its weak policies in the fight against terrorism.

In a statement to the Reference, Awad explained that combating terrorism is the card used by the Sudanese army and leadership when the political situation deteriorates and demonstrations condemn the insecurity, as they can then relatively calm the situation.

“Now the people have realized that all counterterrorism agreements and military efforts are just ‘ink on paper,’ and the security situation will improve in Sudan when the country is politically, economically and militarily stable,” Awad added.

The head of the Sudanese Sovereignty Council announced last week that neither he nor the military establishment wants to rule the country, but the opposition is skeptical of those intentions.

Since October 25, 2021, the country has witnessed protests in response to exceptional measures taken by the Sudanese Sovereignty Council, most notably the imposition of a state of emergency and the dissolution of the transitional council and the cabinet.