Sudan assures that there are no Wagner mercenaries in the country

The Vice President of Sudan’s Sovereign Council, the main authority in the Sudanese transition process, assured this Friday that there are no Wagner Group mercenaries in the African country.

“The forces of the private military company Wagner are not in Sudan. They are present in a number of other countries, in southern Libya, in the Central African Republic and in states bordering Sudan,” Malik Agar said at a press conference on this matter. his visit to Russia.

Agar said the Sudanese army has “no relation” to the forces of the Wagner Group, led by businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin, who staged an armed mutiny over the weekend and recently denied on his Telegram channel that his people were in Sudan.

Agar also said there was “no confirmation” that the mercenaries were linked to the Sudanese Rapid Support Forces (FAR) paramilitaries.

According to a recent report by the Institute for Security Services of the European Union (EUISS), a European think tank, the structure led by Prigozhin already supported General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, leader of the Sovereign Council, but since April, along with Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemeti, a paramilitary general, head of the WSR.

Hemeti has already acknowledged that his troops were trained by the Wagner group, but some analysts believe the group may also be supplying ammunition and fuel.

However, Prigozhin has already denied that Wagner troops have been in Sudan for the past two years, where one of his companies has been allowed to smuggle gold from a Sudanese mine.

Malik Agar also explained that during his visit to Moscow, where he met this Thursday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, he did not ask Russia for weapons.

“We talked about political issues, about ending the war (in Sudan). We did not talk about the supply of arms, and we were promised that we would receive support, humanitarian aid. I think that we will discuss military issues after the end of this war,” he stressed.

The vice-president of the Sovereign Council of Sudan considered that Russia could contribute to resolving the conflict in his country.

“We are addressing a certain number of states that can influence the situation in the country and influence international politics. One of these countries is Russia. Russia is a great power that plays an important role in the world, is a permanent member of the UN Security Council and can influence the situation,” he said.

Sudan is in the midst of a major conflict since fighting broke out on 15 April between the army and the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group. On Wednesday, the warring parties signed a truce.

According to the UN, the conflict in Sudan has resulted in the internal and external displacement of almost 3 million people, with more than 1,173 civilians killed and 11,704 injured.