In a speech that was released on Wednesday, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemedti, the leader of the Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), accused Egypt of carrying out airstrikes on the group’s soldiers.
The army of the nation, which has just gotten the upper hand in the fight that has devastated the nation for nearly eighteen months, was also accused by him of receiving drones and training from Cairo.
Later, in a statement, the Egyptian foreign ministry refuted Hemedti’s claims that Egyptian aircraft was involved in the continuing conflict in Sudan.
“While Egypt denies those claims, it calls on the international community to ascertain the evidence that proves the truth of what the RSF militia leader said,” the foreign ministry added.
Egypt has joined Saudi Arabia and the United States’ efforts to resolve the situation, despite the perception that Egypt is close to the Sudanese army and its commander, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.
Earlier this year, Cairo played host to meetings between opposing political groupings. Hemedti said in his prerecorded video message that Egypt had attacked using American munitions.
“If the Americans were not in agreement these bombs would not reach Sudan,” he added.
In addition, he mentioned the presence of mercenaries from Tigray, Eritrea, Azerbaijan, and Ukraine in the nation and restated claims that Iranians fought with the army.
The army has recently advanced towards the southeast Sennar state and the capital Khartoum, Sudan; Hemedti said that his men were forced to retreat from the vital Jebel Moya region by purported Egyptian airstrikes.
The head of the RSF stated: “This war will not end in one or two, three, or four years,” seemingly shifting the tone from earlier remarks in favour of peace initiatives. We will soon exceed one million soldiers, as some have mentioned.
Since the conflict in Sudan broke out in April 2023, about 10 million people have been pushed from their homes, famine and widespread hunger have been brought on, and waves of violence motivated by ethnic differences have been mostly attributed to the RSF.
