Rapid Support Forces Seize Army Base in Darfur

An image from a clip showing commander of the Rapid Support Forces, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, speaking to his forces on Thursday (X)
An image from a clip showing commander of the Rapid Support Forces, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, speaking to his forces on Thursday (X)
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Rapid Support Forces Seize Army Base in Darfur

An image from a clip showing commander of the Rapid Support Forces, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, speaking to his forces on Thursday (X)
An image from a clip showing commander of the Rapid Support Forces, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, speaking to his forces on Thursday (X)

The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) announced capturing the command of the Sudanese Army’s 15th Division, marking its full control of West Darfur and its capital, less than a week after taking over the 16th Division in Nyala and 21st Division, Central Darfur State.

The RSF said it had “liberated the 15th Infantry Division of El-Geneina,” and announced that “the remnants and coup plotters in Western Darfur have been defeated.”

On October 29, the Forces took control of the headquarters of the 16th Division, one of the largest military bastions of the Sudanese army after Khartoum.

Two days later, they captured the “21st Division, its commander, 50 senior officers, and hundreds of soldiers.

The Support Forces did not reveal how they seized the 16th and 15th Divisions. It is likely that the forces there have withdrawn from the units.

RSF Commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo referred to the withdrawal earlier in his speech. But the army did not comment on the successive fall of its headquarters in Darfur.

However, the official spokesman for the Sudanese army, Brigadier General Nabil Abdullah, had downplayed on Wednesday the Rapid Support announcement of control of the army’s garrisons and divisions in Darfur.

Abdullah stressed that the armed forces "continue with strength and determination to carry out their sacred professional duty."



Far-Right Israeli Minister Ben-Gvir Visits Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound

 Palestinians attend Eid al-Fitr holiday celebrations by the Dome of the Rock shrine in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP)
Palestinians attend Eid al-Fitr holiday celebrations by the Dome of the Rock shrine in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP)
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Far-Right Israeli Minister Ben-Gvir Visits Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound

 Palestinians attend Eid al-Fitr holiday celebrations by the Dome of the Rock shrine in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP)
Palestinians attend Eid al-Fitr holiday celebrations by the Dome of the Rock shrine in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP)

Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visited the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem’s Old City on Wednesday, his spokesperson said, prompting strong condemnation from Jordan and Palestinian group Hamas.

The firebrand politician was visiting the site, which is sacred to Jews and Muslims, in occupied east Jerusalem after returning to the Israeli government last month following the resumption of the war against Hamas in Gaza.

Ben-Gvir had quit the cabinet in January in protest at the ceasefire agreement in the Palestinian territory.

Since the formation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government at the end of 2022, Ben-Gvir has made several trips to the Al-Aqsa compound, each time triggering international outcry.

In a statement, the Jordanian Foreign Ministry condemned Wednesday’s visit as a “storming” and “an unacceptable provocation.”

Hamas called it a “provocative and dangerous escalation,” saying the visit was “part of the ongoing genocide against our Palestinian people.”

“We call on our Palestinian people and our youth in the West Bank to escalate their confrontation... in defense of our land and our sanctities, foremost among them the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque,” it said in a statement.

The site is Islam’s third-holiest and a symbol of Palestinian national identity.

Known to Jews as the Temple Mount, it is also Judaism’s holiest place, revered as the site of the second temple destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.

Under the status quo maintained by Israel, which has occupied east Jerusalem and its Old City since 1967, Jews and other non-Muslims are allowed to visit the compound during specified hours, but they are not permitted to pray there or display religious symbols.

Ben-Gvir’s spokesperson told AFP the minister “went there because the site was opened (for non-Muslims) after 13 days,” during which access was reserved for Muslims for the festival of Eid al-Fitr and the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

In recent years, growing numbers of Jewish ultranationalists have defied the rules, including Ben-Gvir, who publicly prayed there in 2023 and 2024.

The Israeli government has said repeatedly that it intends to uphold the status quo at the compound but Palestinian fears about its future have made it a flashpoint for violence.