Information on the extent to which the Popular Defence Forces (PDF) is replacing the regular army [SDN12660]

According to Sudan Democratic Gazette, the government of the Sudan does not trust the main bulk of the regular army to remain loyal to its Islamic fundamentalist agenda. Specific policies have been engineered to undermine the role of the regular army in society, replacing it with Islamic militias grouped together under the all-encompassing banner of the Popular Defence Forces (PDF).... The regular army, meanwhile, is becoming increasingly marginalized (Aug. 1991)
Another Sudan Democratic Gazette article provides information on the arrest of "a large number of army officers, both on active service and retired, under the pretext of an attempted coup" (Sept. 1991). The report denies any coup attempt and refers to the arrest as an act to suppress the opposition (Ibid.).
A Sudanese opposition radio broadcast monitored by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reports on the purge of the regular armed forces of the Sudan by the government of that country (BBC Summary 26 Oct. 1991, 1-2). The radio broadcast states that at least 3,000 officers have been purged since the seizure of power by the current government; an unspecified number of officers has also been executed, imprisoned, detained or dismissed (Ibid., 1).
Additional information on the above subject is currently unavailable to the DIRB.
References


BBC Summary of World Broadcasts. 26 October 1991. "Sudan SPLA Radio Says Army Purge Continues." (NEXIS)

Sudan Democratic Gazette. September 1991. "Worse Massacre of Army Officers Feared," IRBDC Indexed Media Review [Ottawa], 10-16 September 1991, Vol. 2, No. 11.

_____. August 1991. "Depopulating Parts of Southern Sudan," IRBDC Indexed Media Review [Ottawa], 6-12 August 1991, Vol. 2, No. 6.

Attachments

BBC Summary of World Broadcasts. 26 October 1991. "Sudan SPLA Radio Says Army Purge Continues," pp. 1-2. (NEXIS)

Sudan Democratic Gazette. September 1991. "Worse Massacre of Army Officers Feared," IRBDC Indexed Media Review [Ottawa], 10-16 September 1991, Vol. 2, No. 11, pp. 59-59A.

_____. August 1991. "Depopulating Parts of Southern Sudan," IRBDC Indexed Media Review [Ottawa], 6-12 August 1991, Vol. 2, No. 6, pp. 33-34.