Ahmad 
Calls for arming civilians in Sudan have mounted as the RSF advances southward, and the specter of civil war looms in the country after eight months of bloody power struggle between the RSF and Sudan’s military.
After capturing large parts of Gezira province and taking control of its capital, Wad Madani, the RSF continued to advance southwards and took control of several areas in Sennar state.
Groups calling themselves the “Popular Armed Resistance” have called for arming civilians in the states of White Nile, River Nile, Northern Gedarif, Kassala and Red Sea, all of which are areas under military control.
On the other hand, the RSF calls on civilians loyal to it to arm themselves and join it in its war against the Sudanese army, claiming that this protects the residents of these areas from the army forces.
These calls and actions raise fears that the conflict could spill over into civil war. A security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: “These steps are catastrophic in a country already suffering from the proliferation of weapons, as if the fire is increasing firewood.” “The groups that get the weapons no one guarantees how they will use them and for what purposes,” he said.
The research group Small Arms Survey estimates that about 6.6 percent of Sudanese citizens own a firearm.