Sudan’s JEM rebels ready to merge forces into army before war ends, leader says

August 18, 2026 (KHARTOUM) – The leader of Sudan’s Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), Gibril Ibrahim, said on Tuesday his group is ready to integrate its fighters into the national army before the country’s civil war concludes.

Speaking to newly graduated JEM troops in Khartoum, Ibrahim, who also serves as Sudan’s finance minister, urged the full implementation of the security protocol established under the 2020 Juba Peace Agreement for all signatory groups.

The Juba accord, signed between Sudan’s transitional government and several rebel factions, stipulated the phased integration of former combatants into the military and state security organs.

Implementation stalled due to funding shortages and political divisions before being completely disrupted when war erupted between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in April 2023.

Ibrahim said Sudan must maintain a single, unified national military with an exclusive monopoly on the use of force, warning against any future reliance on irregular militias.

JEM forces fight alongside the military as part of the Joint Force coalition, and Ibrahim pledged to continue joint operations until all RSF-controlled territory is recovered.

Addressing Arab communities in Darfur and Kordofan, Ibrahim said the movement holds no ethnic animosity and is exclusively fighting armed rebels who commit violence against civilians.

Following the outbreak of hostilities in 2023, JEM and allied former rebel movements launched large-scale recruitment across eastern, central, and northern Sudan and trained fighters in neighbouring Eritrea.