As the army seized control of the Republican Palace in the capital, Khartoum, last Friday, one armed faction appeared prominently in all the social media videos documenting the event: the "Al-Baraa Bin Malik Brigade". As soldiers from the national army walked through the bullet-ridden building, the leader of the Brigade, Misbah Abu Zeid Talha, walked proudly carrying a Sudanese flag, and troops flocked to take selfies with him.
The Islamist Al-Baraa Bin Malik Brigade, now 20,000 strong and equipped with sophisticated weaponry, had every reason to celebrate the army's symbolic victory over the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. Lacking infantry, the army has relied on the Brigade from the very beginning of the outbreak of conflict on 15 April 2023, says military researcher Mohammed Abbas. "The Al-Baraa Bin Malik Battalion made a significant difference in the war against the Rapid Support Forces and helped the army retain the armoured corps south of the Sudanese capital from falling to Hemedti's forces when the attacks intensified between June and August 2023," Abbas added.
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The Brigade, led by three leaders affiliated with the Islamic movement - Al-Misbah Abu Zaid Talha, Anas Omar, and Hudhayfah Istanbul - represents more than an armed militia, says security and military researcher Mohammed Al-Sunni. The Brigade is comprised of thousands of youth working in private sector companies, banks, and public trade, Al-Sunni told Ayin. "It would not be unreasonable to classify them as members of the well-off middle class," Al-Sunni said. "Given their closeness to the former regime and the benefits they have received directly and through their families recently."
A current military force, a future civilian force
According to Ahmed Khalifa, a researcher in political Islamic movements and jihadist groups, the Battalion is capable of moving between civilian and military state institutions. Once the fighting is over, Khalifa says, the Battalion will work with state institutions, ensuring Islamists remain in power. "When the war ends, in any scenario, whether by agreement or military resolution, members of this group will shift to what they call civil support," Khalifa said. "This means empowerment in the civilian sector, which includes the banking, electricity, oil, and civil services."
Despite some public spats between the army leadership and the former ruling regime, the National Congress Party under ousted dictator Omar al-Bashir, the party appears set to return to power with considerable political and military strength. The Al-Bara Bin Malik Brigade is the most exemplary of this trend given their military and potential future influence.
"The battalion does not pose a threat to the armed forces, but it influences their decisions," says democracy researcher Mazen Mohammed Ali. "The Battalion opposes any call for the return of civilian forces that dominated the scene during the transitional period," he added. "The means the Brigade opposes the December Revolution that toppled Omar al-Bashir."
A genuine or fabricated feud
While some claim there is a genuine dispute between the army leadership and the Islamist movement, others view these public spats as merely camouflage to deceive public opinion.
Islamist leader Abdel Hai Youssef attacked the army commander in November, calling him a traitor who has no religion and crediting the mujahideen for the army's triumphs. "The Muslim Brotherhood are everywhere in the country," Hai Youssef told Abdel-Fattah al Burhan in a public address. "This includes your armed forces command office." Burhan fired back in a speech addressed to Abdel Hai Youssef. "Whoever has a [Muslim Brotherhood] member fighting in the armed forces, withdraw him," Burhan warned.
Some prominent Islamist military officers withheld vital military actions due to this argument. Two sources who sought anonymity said Islamist-led military outposts around Al-Jazeera State in Managil and Al-Faw briefly stopped a march into Wad Medani, the capital.
The same sources said Islamist leaders Ali Karti, Ahmed Haroun, and Osman Mohamed immediately defused the crisis by disavowing the speech made by Abdel Hai Youssef and restoring military operations. To retake Al-Jazeera and Sennar State, Burhan allied with the Sudan Shield Forces, an armed movement with direct ties to the former regime, the National Congress Party, and other Islam-affiliated armed groups.
SAF and the Islamists: stuck together
But even if tensions arise, both the former Islamist National Congress Party and army remain and must lie in the same discordant bed, analysts say. According to political analyst Dr Bashir al-Sharif, both the army and the Islamic movement are united by their opposition to Sudan's civil society and the legacy of the December Revolution that called for an end to military rule. "Whether through war or a coup, their ultimate goal remains military rule, necessitating continued cooperation," Al-Sharif said.
Similarly, analyst Salah Hassan Jumaa sees no possibility of a split, claiming the Islamists have fully infiltrated the army, controlling its finances, companies, and even foreign policy. "The Islamic movement inherited the army completely, even its money; companies and banks are now in the hands of the Muslim Brotherhood regime," Jumaa told Ayin. "They also seized influence and political decision-making in the state, as they are the ones who control the foreign relations file now. They [the Islamists] forced the military establishment to turn to the Iranian alliance and establish relations with Tehran, for instance."
The NCP returns
Signs of political collaboration between the army and Islamists designed for future control of the state are already apparent in the de facto, military-controlled government in Port Sudan.
Steps have been taken to reinstate former National Congress Party (NCP) cadres into the judiciary and foreign service, activists told Ayin. "On 5 January this year, Abdel-Fattah al Burhan, upon the recommendations of an influential group within the judiciary, appointed Inas Mohamed Abdullah as First Deputy Chief Justice and Supreme Court Justice Munir Mohamed al-Hassan as Second Deputy Chief Justice," said human rights activist Ahmed Othman. Both represent prominent members of the National Congress Party (NCP), he added. According to Othman, the Islamists plan to use the judiciary to reinstate former NCP members previously dismissed under the briefly led civilian government in 2020. The Supreme Court reinstated dozens of ambassadors who had previously been dismissed by the Dismantling Committee under the transitional government, he added.
"If anyone tries to protest now, they will find themselves surrounded by members of the security cells, subjected to torture, and detained in secret centres. They have brought back the tools of oppression during the war."
-Atef, former Resistance Committee member, Gedaref
"They will also publish successive Supreme Court rulings and reinstate roughly 300 companies and organisations affiliated with leaders and entities loyal to the Bashir regime, even offering them compensation for losses," Othman told Ayin. According to the activist, businessmen with close ties to the military and Islamists have come to power during the war. "This group has no interest in the return of a civilian transition and funds security and media activities hostile to the revolution and civilian rule."
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Security researcher Al-Sunni adds that the military government in Port Sudan has already taken further measures to repress any pro-democracy leaders from restoring civilian rule. "Spending on the security sector will exceed $70 million by the end of 2024 to equip police and security forces, maintain absolute security control over public life during and after the war, and silence dissent," Al-Sunni said. "The army has plans to rule for at least ten years under the pretext of maintaining security."
Tools of oppression
While the army and Islamists remain determined to return to power if the war ends, unrest and rivalry among factions loosely aligned with the military may jeopardise their ambitions, according to journalist Maher Abu Al-Jukh. "In Sudan, approximately 20 armed militias are fighting alongside the army, all awaiting their share in the next government," Al-Sunni said. "In light of this reality, the commander of the armed forces has succeeded in liquidating the revolution while simultaneously surrounding himself with a minefield."
No matter the outcome, the feeling of frustration is palpable among youth formerly part of the pro-democracy movement that helped topple former dictator Omar al-Bashir in April 2019. Atef*, now a volunteer with the Emergency Response Rooms in the eastern city of Gedaref, had repeatedly risked his life to protest against the military regime before the outbreak of war. Now Atef says he routinely sees military vehicles along the main street in Gedaref, an area that, four years ago, witnessed popular protests against the former regime. "If anyone tries to protest now, they will find themselves surrounded by members of the security cells, subjected to torture, and detained in secret centres," Atef told Ayin. "They have brought back the tools of oppression during the war."
*Only the first name is provided for security reasons
