The Sudanese government, facing internal conflict and a humanitarian crisis, has officially suspended its membership in the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), an East African regional bloc. This decision was communicated by Sudanese army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who is also the chairman of the Transitional Sovereign Council. The move comes after Sudan had already announced a freeze in relations with IGAD earlier in the week, citing the participation of paramilitary chief Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, a rival to al-Burhan, in an IGAD summit in Uganda that discussed the Sudanese conflict.
Sudan is currently grappling with a rapidly escalating crisis, with over 7.4 million people displaced and more than half the population in need of humanitarian assistance, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). The death toll, as reported by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, exceeds 13,000.
In response to the crisis, IGAD had called for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire during its summit on Thursday, expressing concern over the “unjust war affecting the people” of Sudan. The regional bloc reiterated its willingness to facilitate an all-inclusive peace process and urged face-to-face meetings between the conflicting parties. However, Sudan’s foreign ministry accused IGAD of violating the country’s sovereignty and criticized the summit communique for allegedly hurting the sentiments of victims of rebel militia atrocities, referring to Daglo’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The RSF, led by Daglo, and the Sudanese army, led by al-Burhan, have been accused of committing war crimes, including shelling residential areas, torture, arbitrary detention of civilians, ethnically motivated mass killings, looting, and rapes. International efforts, including those by IGAD, the United States, and Saudi Arabia, to mediate between the conflicting parties have so far proven unsuccessful.
Daglo, seeking international legitimacy, recently embarked on a diplomatic tour to several African capitals. During the IGAD summit, he signed a declaration with Sudan’s former civilian prime minister Abdalla Hamdok. The RSF’s apparent gains on the ground have raised concerns, especially with little resistance from the Sudanese army.
