Minawi's Speech and the Danger of Militias

By: Taj Al-Sir Othman. 1. Minawi has done nothing more than confirm what we have already warned about regarding the danger of militias to the stability and unity of the Sudanese state, in addition to the danger posed by the armies of the movements. We have repeatedly demanded the necessity of dissolving all militias and movement armies and establishing a unified, professional national army that operates under the oversight of a civilian government. The Governor of Darfur Region, Minni Arko Minawi, sparked widespread controversy with his recent remarks made on October 7, 2026, where he issued a stern warning to the state (the government and the army) against the consequences of supporting or establishing new militias. He pointed out the following: The 'Joint Forces' of the armed struggle movements will directly rebel against the state if it continues or moves toward creating or funding parallel armed entities. He emphasized that he recognizes only the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Joint Forces on the scene, considering that opening the door to arming new militias under the pretext of supporting the army threatens the survival of the state. Minawi explained that the Rapid Support Forces were the first catastrophic experiment in this path (as they were created for a military necessity, then turned against and contested the state), stressing that it must be the last experiment. This came as a reaction to leaks and information indicating the state's direction to support new formations in the Darfur region under names such as 'Shield of the West' to be parallel forces. It is worth noting that militias, even before Minawi's speech, were already 'plentiful,' as the Sudanese proverb says. 2. In previous studies and articles, I have pointed to militias and their direct danger to the revolution and the unity and stability of the country, such as: the article 'Militias: The Direct Danger to the Transitional Period' (Sudanile, November 7, 2019) and the article 'The Danger of Militias to the Unity and Stability of the Country' (Alrakoba, April 14, 2023), regarding the grave risks of the presence of militias and parallel forces in Sudan, and the necessity of learning from the mistake of forming the Rapid Support Forces so that we do not reproduce war and crisis again. These highlighted the following: Threatening the democratic transition: considering militias as the primary obstacle to the stability of the transitional period and the unity and stability of the country. The danger to the national nature of the army and the unity of the country. One of the results of the destruction of the armed forces and the failure of Islamist militias was the secession of the South, and Bashir's reliance on the Janjaweed militias, which rebelled against the state as in the ongoing war. The demand for the dismantling and integration of all militias and parallel forces into a single professional national army under the authority of a democratic civilian state. alsirbabo@yahoo.co.uk