A Sudanese coalition led by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) announced a parallel government on Saturday — a move fiercely opposed by the army that could push the country towards further divisions as a two-year-old civil war rages on.

The government, led by RSF General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, was declared in the west of the country.

A spokesperson for the coalition known as the Sudanese Founding Alliance, Alaa El Din Nugud, said in a recorded video statement posted on the coalition’s Facebook page on Saturday that the leadership body decided to establish a "Presidential Council for the Transitional Peace Government," chaired by RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo with Abdelaziz al-Hilu as his deputy.

The RSF controls much of western Sudan, including the vast Darfur region and several other areas, but is being pushed back from central Sudan by the army, which has recently regained control of the capital, Khartoum.

The RSF and its allies had signed a transitional constitution in March. The military, headed by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, had condemned the RSF’s plans to form a parallel government and vowed to keep fighting until it controls the entirety of Sudan — a country long plagued by conflict.

Power struggle

In February, the RSF and allied rebel leaders agreed to form a government for a “New Sudan”, aiming to challenge the army-led administration’s legitimacy.

Dagalo had previously shared power with Burhan following the ousting of long-time leader Omar al-Bashir in 2019. However, a 2021 coup by the two forces removed civilian politicians, sparking a power struggle over troop integration during a planned transition to democracy.

The ongoing conflict has devastated Sudan, creating an “unprecedented” humanitarian crisis, with half the population facing widespread hunger and famine, according to the United Nations.