The Sudanese War: A Conflict of Influence and Betrayal
The Sudanese War: A Conflict of Influence and BetrayalBy: Mujahid Bushry - Translation from Arabic into English - Charilogone Editorial Team
Amid the complex Sudanese situation, it is clear that the war was not simply a confrontation between the army and the Rapid Support Forces, but rather a well-prepared game in which both the army and the Islamists participated. From the beginning, there was an elaborate plan in place, in which the army used Abu Aqla Kikel as a double agent within the Rapid Support Forces, a Trojan horse that would drag them into a quagmire of chaos.
The violations were universally condemned. On the other hand, the Islamists were preparing for their own war, attempting to impose their presence through multiple terrorist brigades, including Al-Khahra, Al-Khadra, and Al-Baraa bin Malik. These groups, publicly announced by their leaders, had the mission of abort any possibility of a return of the Sudanese revolution by recruiting the youth, the backbone of the December Revolution, and targeting them through brainwashing.
As the war unfolded and Kikel's role and return to the army were revealed, the situation reversed. The Islamists realized that the man the army had used in their dirty war could become the greatest obstacle in their path. This is where the real war began, not between the army and Rapid Support, but between the Islamists and Kikel, who understood nothing of the reasons for the clash.
Islamists: A Double Game and a Bloody Scheme
Al-Burhan, hungry for power, used Kikel as a tactic to confront the Islamists and their interim allies, but he was not the only one planning this. On the other front, the Islamists understood that they could only impose their control through their terrorist brigades, which required creating popular cover to justify their presence. So they sought to attract Nile's youth, angry at the army that betrayed them and withdrew in December 2023, and they found themselves faced with a choice: either join them or mobilize without weapons.
When the army withdrew from Jazeera State in December 2023, it left civilians in direct conflict with Kikel, who had joined Rapid Support. But the biggest surprise was that 40,000 conscripted troops, prepared to fight under the army's banner, ultimately found themselves in the ranks of the Islamists, giving them a huge force to prepare for battle. This growing power has made the Islamists more hostile toward Kikel, as his growing influence means they are gradually losing the popular support they have carefully sought to build.
Why Do Islamists Want to Eliminate Kikel?
The Islamists' hostility toward Kikel is not just a passing quarrel, but rather an existential confrontation. The man who was integrated by the army into the Rapid Support Forces has begun to become a local symbol, and he has succeeded in attracting thousands of young people whom the Islamists wanted to recruit for their own benefit. For them, Kikel represents the greatest threat to their project, because he threatens the most important element of their plan: to strengthen control over Nile's youth and use them as fuel for their next war against the army.
The Islamists understood that Kikel's survival meant their failure and that the collapse of their project had become a real possibility, especially since they knew full well that the Sudanese people hated them more than any other party. Even if people disagree on whether to support the army or provide rapid support, everyone agrees that the Islamists are the real culprits in this bloody scene, and that they are the creators of chaos and collapse. Therefore, they can only return to power in the only way they know how: blood, weapons, and coups.
Al-Burhan and Kikel: A Temporary Alliance Against the Islamists?
In this tangled conflict, Burhan's position cannot be ignored. A man who previously used Kikel may now find himself in a new predicament. He knows that the Islamists are planning for the post-war period and that they view him as a traitor who will have to be eliminated at some point, as their leaders have repeatedly indicated. At the same time, Al-Burhan realizes that Kikel's survival poses a double threat: on the one hand, it undermines the influence of the Islamists and the armed movements, but on the other, it could become a political liability if he decides to ally himself with any other party outside the army's control.
It is worth noting that the government in Port Sudan has not issued any statement opposing international reports implicating Kikel in the massacres in Gezira State, but has instead left the issue open, as if waiting for the opportune moment to get rid of him or to put a stick over his head with these crimes. This official silence could indicate that Burhan would not hesitate to sacrifice and criminalize Kikel when necessary to maintain his power.
Possible Scenarios
Kikel's Assassination: The Islamists will not accept his presence, and he poses a major obstacle in their path, so his assassination is the most likely scenario, especially since the mysterious liquidations of army commanders at the hands of Islamists are nothing new in Sudanese history. Explosion of the confrontation between Islamists and the army: With the presence of tens of thousands of personnel mobilized in the ranks of the Islamist brigades, a confrontation with the army is only a matter of time. The Islamists seek total control and will not accept any force that threatens them.
Using Kikel as a scapegoat: Al-Burhan could decide to sacrifice Kikel politically and condemn him internationally at a later stage, to ensure that local and international pressure on him is reduced.
Settling scores among all: In this conflict, everyone is seeking salvation, and everyone realizes that the greatest danger comes from their closest allies, not their enemies. The army, the Islamists, the terrorist brigades, various militias, and even Kikel himself are all involved in a dirty battle being fought for the bodies of the Sudanese people.
A War Without Honor
It has become clear that what is happening in Sudan is not just a military conflict, but rather a dirty war of influence, in which religion, politics, militias, and media lies are used as weapons to annihilate opponents. The growing conflict between the Islamists and Kikel is not just a secondary battle, but rather a struggle for survival, over who is in control and who is exterminated.
While these killers fight, the Sudanese citizen remains the victim, crushed under the feet of the greedy, in a war that knows no honor, knows no mercy, and knows only massacres, blood, and betrayal.
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