Sudan’s Special Support Groups are the unsung heroes affiliated to the armed forces

The spotlight has shone recently on Talha Al-Misbah, the commander of the Al-Baraa Battalion. He is a businessman who sells kitchen utensils for a living and a type 1 diabetic, who carries his insulin injections into battle ready to administer three life-saving doses per day.

Al-Misbah also happens to be one of the Sudanese Army’s most reliable special operations fighters. He is trusted to transport, rescue and return valuable items, such as gold, and to protect vulnerable citizens such as women and children.

His team and another eleven like them are known as the Special Support Groups (SSGs) and have been instrumental in taking the battle to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which have been engaged in a civil war with the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) since mid-April 2023.

In videos posted on social media, the Al-Baraa commander was seen carrying the Sudanese flag after the RSF left the Presidential Palace last Friday. He was walking through the palace and receiving congratulations from fellow soldiers and members of his team. The SSGs were the most visible presence inside central Khartoum, and the jubilant scene has not been welcomed universally.

“The victory has fuelled growing fears about the consequences of these battalions’ dominance of the military and media landscape and the purpose of their participation in the current war,” said Sky News Arabic.

Those “growing fears,” have been voiced about the newly-formed SSGs and their affiliation with the SAF, operating under its direction.

However, according to Ammar Abdel-Wahab, a spokesman for Al-Baraa SSG, “Our primary goal is to defeat the militia and to go back to normal life.” He described the contribution of the SSGs as involvement in a “dignity” (Karama) war. “Once the Karama war ends and the Janjaweed [the RSF] is finished, the SSGs will be army reserves, unless the SAF decides to redesign our roles, particularly for specialised professionals such as healthcare workers, engineers, teachers and community activists.”

Abdel-Wahab is a journalist with three children. “Currently, there is a pressing need for civic engagement due to the deteriorating conditions in areas previously occupied by the RSF militia,” he explained. “The SSGs are presently focused on two key missions: to liberate civilian detainees in residential areas where the terrorist militia uses them as human shields; and we are conducting special operations and infiltration missions to deliver humanitarian aid and medical supplies to areas under militia occupation or where dangerous pockets of criminals, mercenaries and snipers remain.”

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Some observers believe that the increased visibility of the SSGs could fuel competition among groups allied with the SAF; exacerbating regional, tribal and sectarian problems in Sudan, particularly in light of the power struggle that ensued between the RSF and the army.

In this context, political researcher Amin Bilal was quoted by Sky News Arabic as stressing that the proliferation of multiple armed groups outside the formal framework [of the SAF} poses the greatest threat to Sudan. “Most armed groups aim, by participating in this war, to seize power; the groups carrying weapons rely on tribal and regional orientations to incite people to seize their rights by force rather than through civil and political action,” he said. “This means the beginning of the formation of a Sudan built on a struggle of all against all.”

Activist Hassan Al-Radhi was also quoted by the news outlet. He believes that the competition for media exposure after entering the presidential palace confirms that the war, which has claimed thousands of lives and destroyed entire cities, “is not a conflict between competing political visions, but rather a struggle between militias and military forces, each seeking to seize power at any cost.”

Abdel-Wahab denied that there are competing forces within the SAF ranks.

“Unlike the RSF, the army represents the aspirations of all the Sudanese people,” he insisted. “The RSF represents the aspirations of the Dagalo family. There are no militias within the army. We are one army; one people; one nation.”

In January, Abdel-Hay Youssef, a prominent Islamic scholar, seemed to disparage the SAF when he claimed that the victories of the army were principally due to the contribution of Islamic orientated fighters.

“We have a great deal of respect for Abdul-Hai as a scholar of Islam, but the SSGs are an indivisible entity within the army,” responded Abdel-Wahab. “In addition to these missions, the SSGs have advanced alongside the SAF on all fronts and carried out commando tasks assigned by SAF officers. The recent victories are due to the planning of our commanders and the operations of some of our groups.”

The Al-Barra SSG spokesman vowed to continue to fight. “Our victory came at an appropriate time as our intelligence revealed that the RSF was ultimately about to make a formal announcement of a breakaway parallel Sudan government from within the Republican Palace, but we moved to prevent it. Be sure the victory of Allah is near.”

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