Sudan partially reopens border with CAR
March 5, 2023 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan opened its border with the Central African Republic (CAR) to allow cross-border trade after a two-month closure.
On January 3, the deputy head of the Sovereign Council and Commander of the Rapid Support Forces, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo “Hametti” announced the border closure after speaking about the involvement of Sudanese elements in an attempt to overthrow the CAR president.
“The South Darfur State Security Committee decided to partially open the borders to allow the flow of commercial traffic, following the visit of a high-ranking delegation to the Umm Dafouk locality on the border with Central Africa last week,” a senior official in the state of South Darfur told Sudan Tribune.
According to the official who requested anonymity, local traditional leaders of the Salamat tribe in a memorandum to the state government complained about the accumulation of large numbers of commercial vehicles in the locality after the border closure.
They further complained of violations committed by the RSF elements and the arrest of youth groups rejecting the measures taken by the security forces to combat what they call negative phenomena.
“About 60 vehicles have withdrawn from the forces that had been deployed at the border since last week,” the official said.
The RSF commander in South Darfur State, Ahmed Mohamed Suleiman, welcomed on Saturday afternoon, in Nyala, a mobile force “Agbash” and praised the roles played by its elements to restore security and combating crimes on the border area.
Since the border shut down, the paramilitary force dispatched military reinforcements to the border areas of Um Dukhun in Central Darfur, Um Dafouk and Abu Jaradil in the state of South Darfur.
The troops were officially tasked with preventing arms and drug trafficking.
The RSF Commander Mohamed Hamdan Dalgo, spoke about the trafficking of military uniforms from Sudan to the CAR and the arrest of Arab tribesmen in Darfur joining rebel groups in the troubled neighbouring country.
Some Western newsletters claimed that RSF soldiers crossed actually into the other side of the border to fight Central African rebel groups alongside the CAR troops and Wagner contractors.
(ST)