TRS President Gen. Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan. (Photo: SUNA).

The leader of Sudan’s Transitional Sovereign Council, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, has ruled out future reconciliation with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), in his address on the country’s 69th independence anniversary.

The RSF was once a unit in the SAF that was formed out of the Janjaweed militia that was accused of ethnic cleansing in Darfur on behalf of the Sudanese government in 2003.

Following the fall of Islamist leader Omar al Bashir, the two factions came into conflict after a dispute over leading the country and controlling its rich mineral resources.

Al-Burhan addressed the nation on Tuesday calling the RSF “murderers and criminals” – 18 months into the devastating war – adding that any reintegration of the group into Sudanese society is off the table.

“There is no going back to the situation before April 15, 2023, nor can we accept the presence of these criminals among Sudanese people,” he said in a televised address Tuesday.

He said although the army is at war with RSF, this does not prevent it from engaging in any real initiative that ends the conflict and ensures the safe return of citizens to their homes.

The army chief said his administration has cooperated with humanitarian agencies in delivering aid to needy people in its controlled territories and reaffirmed commitment to international humanitarian laws.

Al-Burhan strongly rejected on Sunday a report backed by the United Nations which determined that famine had spread to five areas of the war-torn country.

“What is being circulated about famine is pure fabrication and intended to interfere in Sudan affairs,” he said.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) review follows repeated warnings from the United Nations, other aid groups and the United States about the hunger situation in the northeast African country.

IPC said in December that the war between army and RSF had created famine conditions for 638,000 people, with a further 8.1 million on the brink of mass starvation.

The conflict between the army under Gen. Al-Burhan and RSF of Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, erupted in April 15, 2023, and has killed tens of thousands, displaced millions and triggered one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

Fighting continues in several parts of Sudan, with both sides accused of war crimes including the deliberate targeting of civilians, indiscriminate shelling of residential areas and blocking humanitarian aid.

The United Nations said the country is experiencing one of the worst humanitarian disasters in recent memory and the largest internal displacement crisis in the world.