The Rapid Support Forces were created by former president Omar al Bashir to protect his regime from rebels - but they soon became a threat to both him and the future government.
Sudan’s neighbours are urging restraint, favouring more business, less war. Both generals are aware the longer the situation goes on, the more unsustainable it will become.
Sudan army soldiers are fighting a rival paramilitary group.
AFP via Getty Images
Vladimir Putin has a history of flattening cities in time of conflict. But alleged war crimes in Chechnya and Syria never resulted in charges, let alone prosecutions. Will Ukraine be any different?
Former Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe greets supporters massed at his party headquarters shortly before his ouster in 2017.
Jekesai Njikizana/AFP via Getty Images
Leaders typically spread power among their ‘rival allies’ to keep it and co-opt enough of those elites in exchange for political support.
Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok (foreground centre) and Sovereign Council chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan (right) tour the armed forces general command in Khartoum.
Photo by Ashraf Shazly/AFP via Getty Images
Sudan’s new government came to power after a people-driven process to oust former President Omar al-Bashir. It must be careful to place ordinary Sudanese at the centre of the reforms process.
A Sudanese demonstrator at a protest in the capital Khartoum.
Ashraf Shazily/AFP via Getty Images
Senior Research Fellow, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs and Visiting Professor University of Buckingham, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
Professor in Law and Co-Convener National Security Hub (University of Canberra) and Research Fellow (adjunct) - The Security Institute for Governance and Leadership in Africa, Faculty of Military Science, Stellenbosch University- NATO Fellow Asia-Pacific, University of Canberra