Sudan expresses its anger over killing its sons in favor of Saudi-led coalition

YemenExtra

Y.A

Independent members of the Sudanese parliament have called on President Omar Al Bashir to withdraw the country’s troops fighting in Yemen.

In a statement on Sunday, the independent MPs’ Alliance for Change condemned the presence of Sudanese army in Yemen, in support of Saudi forces for killing people including women and children in the pretext of fighting with Houthis, part of Yemeni joint forces.

“Dispatching Sudanese army soldiers and members of the Rapid Support Forces [Sudan’s main militia] is an unconstitutional measure, and carried out without having been remitted to the Parliament,” the statement says.

“Sudan should not interfere in the affairs of other countries,” Abulgasim Burtom, chairman of the Alliance for Change told Radio Dabanga.

“The Interim Constitution of Sudan is clear: The President of the Republic has no right to decide to send an army [to fight] abroad,” he explained.

“Furthermore, Khartoum should opt for balanced relations with other countries that serve the interests of Sudan.”

Burtom as well called on the government “to appropriately compensate the families of the troops who died and were wounded in Yemen.

In March 2015, Sudan joined the military operation led by Saudi Arabia in pretext to fight Houthi fighters, part of Yemeni joint forces, in Yemen.

The decision to participate in the Saudi military campaign against the Yemeni fighters was based on “the historical close ties” between Sudan and Saudi Arabia, and “the danger that threatens all of the region and Saudi Arabia specifically”, Foreign Affairs Minister Ali Karti told Sudan News Agency (SUNA) at the time.

Since the operation in Yemen began, El Riyadh pledged fresh investments in Sudan’s agricultural sector. In July and August 2015, the Central Bank of Sudan reportedly received a total of $1 billion from Saudi Arabia. According to Khartoum, the economic assistance was not linked to its military support.

In September 2017, Mohamed Hamdan Dagolo (‘Hemeti’), commander of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, admitted that hundreds of Sudanese forces died in Yemen: “We effectively participated in the Yemeni war, we captured many towns, though we lost 412 soldiers including 14 officers.”

Saudi Arabia and a coalition of its regional allies launched a war against Yemen with the declared aim of crushing the Houthi Ansarullah movement, who had taken over from the staunch Riyadh ally and fugitive former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, while also seeking to secure the Saudi border with its southern neighbor. Three years and over 600,000 dead and injured Yemeni people later, the war has yielded little to that effect.