Agreement Between Musa Hilal and Joint Force to Form a Military Unit

The Revolutionary Awakening Council, led by Musa Hilal, announced on Sunday that it had reached an agreement with the Joint Force of armed movements allied with the Sudanese army to establish a military unit tasked with carrying out specific missions.

The agreement was reached during the first public meeting between Hilal — who is also a tribal leader of the Mahamid clan, a branch of the Rizeigat tribe — and leaderships of the Joint Force.

The two sides discussed political and military issues amid rapidly evolving security developments in North Darfur State.

Ahmed Abkar, the spokesman for the Awakening Council, said in a statement, that the meeting resulted in an agreement to form a joint military force from the Council and the Joint Force. He explained that this force would work to reopen closed markets, combat theft and criminal activities, reopen roads and migratory routes blocked by the war, as well as protect the agricultural season.

The statement noted that both sides underscored the need to strengthen military coordination and joint action to address social issues, while calling for peaceful coexistence and the rejection of hate speech among local communities.

This development comes as the city of El-Fashir witnesses escalating fighting between the army and its allied armed movements against the militia, which is seeking to seize central power strongholds in the Darfur region. The army and its allies continue to fight fiercely despite severe shortages of food and medicine due to the siege imposed on El-Fashir by the rebel Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia since April 2024.

Musa Hilal had earlier declared his alignment with the army and support for state institutions months after the outbreak of the conflict in mid-April 2023, describing the war as an invasion of Sudan by mercenaries coming from West Africa.