Sudan closed its border with the Central African Republic citing security risks.
The announcement was made on Thursday by the deputy head of the Military Council of Sudan, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, leader of the Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary entity accused of involvement in a conspiracy to overthrow the government of the Central African Republic.
These allegations came after the signing of a peace agreement between ethnic groups in Sudan’s troubled Darfur region.
Mr. Dagalo said he would ignore attempts to demonize RSF and accused unnamed people of trying to stir up trouble between Sudan and CAR.
“That’s why we closed the borders to avoid disputes and maintain good neighborliness,” he said.
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The vice-president of the Sovereign Council highlighted that there are efforts to sow discord between the two countries, as some banned groups have used Rapid Support Forces uniforms to enforce their objectives.
He said paramilitary forces will set up camps in Umm Dafuq and Umm Dukhun to control and protect the borders.
Last January, Sudan closed its 174-kilometer border with the Central African Republic, citing the need to manage a security threat from its southwestern neighbor.
The Darfur Bar Association, a non-governmental organization, said it had video evidence of the presence in 2020 of mercenaries from the Russian private security company Wagner in the cafes, streets, and valleys of Um Dafouk, in southern Darfur, on the border with the Republic of Central Africa.
The Russian company, Wagner works in the Central African Republic on behalf of the local government.