Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti (left), and Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan (center) at the signing of the framework agreement in December 2022. (AP)

In a report by the Financial Times on Thursday, Sudan's battling generals branded each other "criminals" for civilian deaths, intensifying a verbal war that suggested there was little room for compromise in their fight for Africa's third-largest country.

Sudan's vice president and commander of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, Mohamed Hamdan 'Hemedti' Dagalo, accused his opponent of leading a "radical Islamist gang" seeking to establish a military dictatorship, while accusing the country's armed forces of targeting hospitals and non-military targets.

“We’re ready for him to hit us, but not the civilians,” Dagalo, better known as Hemedti, told the Financial Times from Khartoum. “We ask God that we gain control and arrest him to hand him over to justice.”

Asked if his forces would prevail, Hemedti replied: “We have the readiness, and now we’re on the battlefield. The battlefield will define everything.”

Separately, his opponent Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, the head of the Sudanese Armed Forces and the country’s de facto president, accused RSF forces of indiscriminate violence. “A large part of [Hemedti’s] forces is out of control,” he said, adding that they were responsible for widespread looting in Khartoum and the western Darfur region.

Neither will stop short of outright victory

Burhan accused Hemedti of inciting a diplomatic incident by "kidnapping" a group of Egyptian soldiers who were in Sudan on official business as part of joint armed forces training, according to the Financial Times. He also claimed that they had killed World Food Programme staff and attacked a US Embassy convoy.

Hemedti insisted it was Burhan who had “spread fear among the people, guests, and diplomats”. “This is an existential conflict for both these generals,” said Kholood Khair, a Khartoum-based analyst who saw little prospect for international efforts to halt the conflict. “They will want to see it through to the end.”

Chidi Odinkalu of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University said neither man would stop short of outright victory. “One of those two people will not continue in power.”

Attempts to call a ceasefire to bring in humanitarian aid have failed since fighting erupted on Saturday, with each side accusing the other of bad faith.

Burhan and Hemeti were once allies who banded together in 2019 to depose Omar al-Bashir, who had ruled Sudan for 30 years. Since then, and particularly after the 2021 putsch that resulted in the removal of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, they have formed an uneasy alliance, with both parties participating in on-again, off-again talks with civilian leaders ostensibly aimed at steering the country towards democracy.

“The army and the RSF were equally complicit in the country’s most recent political crime: the 2021 coup,” said Amjed Farid, a former Hamdok adviser. “Their current conflict is a battle over the spoils.”

Hemedti open to a ceasefire

In recent months, a schism appeared inevitable, as Burhan sought to incorporate the RSF into the regular armed forces as part of the civilian deal, a move that threatened to neutralize Hemedti's independent power base, according to the Financial Times.

Hemedti stated that he was not opposed to incorporating the RSF into the regular armed forces in principle. "The RSF has a specific role, and the RSF has not declined the merger," he said, accusing Burhan of refusing to implement the so-called framework agreement, which was supposed to pave the way for civilian rule.

While Burhan claimed Hemedti was attempting a "power grab," the paramilitary leader said he was open to a cease-fire. "We have no objection to the fight being stopped," he said. "However, Burhan will not stop."

According to the Financial Times, despite their military backgrounds and use of violence, both men have sought to present themselves as democrats, insisting that once they have won, the transition to civilian rule can be resumed.