killing at least 118 people<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\nHe was later appointed deputy of the transitional Sovereign Council that ruled Sudan in partnership with civilian leadership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The two rivals mirror each other<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Burhan is essentially Sudan\u2019s leader. At the time of Bashir\u2019s toppling, Burhan was the army\u2019s inspector general.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His career has run an almost parallel course to Dagalo\u2019s. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He also rose to prominence in the 2000\u2019s for his role in the dark days of the Darfur conflict, where the two men are believed to have first came into contact. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Al-Burhan and Dagalo both cemented their rise to power by currying favor with the Gulf powerhouses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They commanded separate battalions of Sudanese forces, who were sent to serve with the Saudi-led coalition forces in Yemen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now they find themselves locked in a power struggle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Attempted coup\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Speaking with CNN, Burhan, characterized the RSF offensive as an \u201cattempted coup.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is an attempted coup and rebellion against the state,\u201d Burhan told CNN by phone. He said that RSF leader Dagalo had \u201cmutinied\u201d against the state, and if captured, would be tried in court of law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Burhan alleged in the CNN interview that the RSF had tried to \u201ccapture me and kill me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When asked about that claim, an RSF spokesperson told CNN that the group was \u201cseeking to capture him\u201d and bring him to justice for \u201cmany treasons acts against the Sudanese people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are fighting for all Sudanese people,\u201d the spokesperson said in a statement. \u201cWe [are] going to bring all responsible parties to justice and give them a fair trial.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When challenged on why the Sudanese people should trust him, given his former alliance with Dagalo, Burhan told CNN: \u201cThe Sudanese Army is the people\u2019s army.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt is not owned by specific people or specific organizations,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is a national institution, which is tasked with defending Sudan.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sudan faces an uncertain future<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Where the fighting will end is unclear. Both sides claim control over key sites and fighting has been reported across the country in places far from the capital Khartoum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While various official and non-official estimates place the Sudanese armed forces at around 210-220,000, the RSF are believed to number approximately 70,000 but are better trained and better equipped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
International powers have expressed alarm, with the UN Security Council holding its first meeting on the crisis in Sudan on Monday. Apart from concerns over civilians there are likely other motivations at play \u2013 Sudan is resource-rich and strategically located.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
CNN has previously reported<\/a> on how Russia has colluded with Sudan\u2019s military leaders to smuggle gold out of Sudan.<\/p>\n\n\n\nDagalo\u2019s forces were a key recipient of Russian training and weaponry, and Sudan\u2019s military leader Burhan is also believed by CNN\u2019s Sudanese sources to have been backed by Russia, before international pressure forced him to publicly disavow the presence of the Russian mercenary group Wagner, in Sudan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sudan\u2019s neighbors Egypt and South Sudan have offered to mediate, but in the meantime all that is certain is more misery for the Sudanese people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
CNN\u2019s AnneClaire Stapleton contributed reporting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By\u00a0Nima Elbagir,\u00a0Tamara Qiblawi\u00a0and\u00a0Amarachi Orie, April 17, 2023 Fierce fighting across Sudan\u00a0has left hopes for a peaceful transition to civilian rule in tatters. Forces loyal to two rival generals are vying for control, and as is so often the case civilians have suffered the most, with dozens killed and hundreds injured. Doctors\u2019 organizations and several eyewitnesses […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1001004,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14542"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1001004"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14542"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14542\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14543,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14542\/revisions\/14543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}