A parallel government being set up by Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF) aims to grab diplomatic legitimacy from its army-led rival and ease access to advanced weaponry, politicians who back it and paramilitary sources told Reuters.

Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and allies have signed a charter that paved the way for the establishment of a parallel government, as Sudan’s army made advances recently against the rival groups.

Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF) is establishing a parallel government to gain diplomatic legitimacy and access to advanced weaponry, challenging its army-led rival. The RSF aims for international recognition and increased military support after losing ground in the protracted conflict.

Forces fighting alongside Sudan's army said on Friday they had intercepted a substantial quantity of military supplies from a convoy destined for the rival Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in North Darfur.

Sudan's army and allied groups could face formidable battlefield challenges if the recent political agreement between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and a powerful faction of a southern rebel group becomes a military alliance,

The RSF has seized most of the western Darfur region and swathes of the Kordofan region in an almost-two-year war, but is being pushed back from central Sudan by the Sudanese army.