Article

Friday, June 06, 2025
search-icon

Military's recent gains won't end Sudan's civil war: Hamdok

publish time

05/06/2025

publish time

05/06/2025

llt115
Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok speaks during a session of the summit to support Sudan, at the Grand Palais Ephemere in Paris on May 17, 2021. (AP)

MARRAKECH, Morocco, June 5, (AP): Sudan’s former prime minister on Wednesday dismissed the military's moves to form a new government as "fake,” saying its recent victories in recapturing the capital Khartoum and other territory will not end the country's two-year civil war. In a rare interview with The Associated Press, Abdalla Hamdok said no military victory, in Khartoum or elsewhere, could end the war that has killed tens of thousands and driven millions from their homes.

"Whether Khartoum is captured or not captured, it’s irrelevant,” Hamdok said on the sidelines of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation’s governance conference in Morocco. "There is no military solution to this. No side will be able to have outright victory.” Hamdok became Sudan's first civilian prime minister after decades of military rule in 2019, trying to lead a democratic transition.

He resigned in January 2022 after a turbulent stretch in which he was ousted in a coup and briefly reinstated amid international pressure. The following year, warring generals plunged the country into civil war. Sudan today bears the grim distinction of being home to some of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. Fighting between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has left at least 24,000 dead, though many believe the true toll is far worse. Both sides stand accused of war crimes.

The RSF, with roots in Darfur’s notorious Janjaweed militia, has been accused of carrying out genocide. The army is accused of unleashing chemical weapons and targeting civilians where they live. The war has driven about 13 million people from their homes, including 4 million who have crossed into neighboring countries. Famine is setting in and cholera is sweeping through.