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By Spy Uganda Correspondent
Tripoli: A column of about 70 armed vehicles belonging to Sudanese Janjaweed fighters moved towards the key strategic Mediterranean city of Sirte in support of General Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA), state-run news agency reported on Tuesday.
Turkish-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) earlier said it intends to recapture Sirte, a gateway to Libya’s main oil terminals, and the airbase of al-Jufra, located in the oil region, from forces allied to the eastern Libya-based LNA, which is backed by Russia, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Since April 2019, the GNA has been fighting to stave-off an offensive by the LNA to seize capital Tripoli. In recent weeks, LNA forces have suffered heavy losses as Turkey’s military support provided an upper hand to the GNA.
Control of Sirte of some 85,000 people will be decisive for the oil industry, as it is the gateway to the central and eastern oil crescent where much of Libya’s 1 million-plus barrels a day of output were once shipped to world markets.
It currently produces just 90,000 barrels a day, according to a report by Bloomberg in June.
The Janjaweed, who became notorious for atrocities inflicted on the civilian population in Sudan’s troubled Darfur region, were dispatched to Libya by UAE, according to Anadolu, who also funded Russian mercenaries and Syrian fighters to join Haftar.
What Is a Janjaweed?
Janjaweed, also spelled Janjawid, is an Arab militia active in Sudan, particularly in the Darfur region who are now helping to revive peace in war torn Libya. The militia’s name is thought by many to be derived from the Arabic jinnī (spirit) and jawad (horse), although its etymological origins are not completely clear.
In 2004, Janjaweed militia men earned global infamy as “devils on horseback” for the ethnic cleansing they carried out with al-Bashir’s government in Western Sudan. It’s now more than half a decade later and this group has shook the world with its crackdown on protesters demanding democratic reform.
Using the United Nations definition, the Janjaweed comprised Sudanese Arab tribes, the core of whom are from the Abbala (camel herder) background with significant recruitment from the Baggara (cattle herder) people. However, as the group grew, members from other tribes also became a common sight within the group.
Unlike in their past incarnations, notably from 2004 and 2014, the group is now an organised and constitutionally recognised government unit. In true dictator fashion, a move that was meant to strengthen his position, Omar al-Bashir’s government organised the Janjaweed militia into the Rapid Support Forces in an operation that began six years ago. This was despite a UN Security Council directive more than a decade ago to disarm the militia.
The government’s tango with the militia began in 2003, after two non-Arab groups, the Sudan Liberation Army and the Justice and Equality Movement, took up arms against the Sudanese government, alleging mistreatment by the Arab regime in Khartoum. In response to the uprising, the government carried out a joint operation with the Janjaweed militias pillaging towns and villages inhabited by members of the African tribes from which the rebel armies drew their strength—the Zaghawa, Masalit, and Fur tribes.
With such a history, it is easy to see why it has been the weapon of choice for the violent clampdown on the civilian uprising in Khartoum. The forces are known to be ruthless and a report by Human Rights Watch noted that the group’s activities were characterised with “killing, rape, and pillage – even stealing emergency relief items — with impunity.”
