RSF Leader: Armed Groups Responsible for Escalation in Sudan's El Fasher

Commander of Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) Mohammed Hamdan Daglo in southern Darfur. (AFP file photo)
Commander of Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) Mohammed Hamdan Daglo in southern Darfur. (AFP file photo)
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RSF Leader: Armed Groups Responsible for Escalation in Sudan's El Fasher

Commander of Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) Mohammed Hamdan Daglo in southern Darfur. (AFP file photo)
Commander of Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) Mohammed Hamdan Daglo in southern Darfur. (AFP file photo)

Commander of Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) Mohammed Hamdan Daglo, also known as Hemedti, slammed on Sunday the “popular resistance,” saying they were a cover for the brigades of the ousted regime and whose members were from the army and other security forces.

In a voice recording on Eid al-Adha, he congratulated the Sudanese people on the occasion, saying their country was “going through extraordinary circumstances because of the war that was sparked by the Islamist movement with the help of the army command.”

This was Daglo’s first address to the public in two months.

“We are pained by the conditions our citizens are going through and we are working on easing their suffering to achieve peace and stability and ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid,” he went on to say.

On the situation in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, Daglo blamed the escalation there on armed factions “that have abandoned neutrality and chosen to side with their slaughterer.”

“They attacked our forces, so we had no choice but to defend ourselves,” he stressed.

He said the development in Wad al-Noura in al-Jazirah state was a military battle between the RSF, army, Islamist movement brigades and the security agency. He declared that the RSF succeeded in deciding the battle in its favor.

Clashes in the rural town have left over 100 people dead and injured.

Daglo stressed the importance of opening humanitarian corridors to deliver aid to the people. “We reject the practices committed by the gang in Port Sudan,” he added, in reference to the army.

He blamed the military for impeding the delivery of aid throughout Sudan, accusing it of war crimes.



RSF Seizes Strategic Area Near South Sudan Border

Sudanese women wait in line for aid from the Red Cross on the outskirts of Adré, Chad, after fleeing El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur State in Sudan (File photo - Reuters)
Sudanese women wait in line for aid from the Red Cross on the outskirts of Adré, Chad, after fleeing El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur State in Sudan (File photo - Reuters)
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RSF Seizes Strategic Area Near South Sudan Border

Sudanese women wait in line for aid from the Red Cross on the outskirts of Adré, Chad, after fleeing El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur State in Sudan (File photo - Reuters)
Sudanese women wait in line for aid from the Red Cross on the outskirts of Adré, Chad, after fleeing El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur State in Sudan (File photo - Reuters)

Clashes between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have escalated in strategic areas. The army reported advances in Omdurman two days ago, but the RSF claimed to have seized the key town of Al-Meiram near the South Sudan border.

Al-Meiram, located 40 kilometers from South Sudan in West Kordofan, used to be part of the railway link between Sudan and South Sudan before their split in 2011. The town, rich in natural resources and near oil fields, is now a crucial border area.

Its significance comes from being a major trade route, supplying food to East Darfur and parts of Kordofan, especially during the rainy season. Al-Meiram is connected by a dirt road to the oil town of Muglad.

Controlling Al-Meiram provides access to border trade routes and significant geographic advantages due to its closeness to South Sudan and the resource-rich savannah.

On Wednesday, the Sudanese army reported repelling an RSF attack on Al-Meiram. Army spokesperson Brig. Gen. Nabil Abdullah said: “The armed forces thwarted a treacherous attack by the Al-Dagalo militia on Al-Meiram.”

The RSF claimed to have killed 200 army personnel, including two officers, and captured 22 combat vehicles, six tanks, various mortars, and a large cache of weapons and ammunition after the army retreated.

The RSF described its takeover of Al-Meiram as part of their “continuous victories” and framed it as a step towards ending "years of oppression" and building a new, fair Sudan.

This week, the RSF shocked observers by capturing several strategic locations in Sennar State. It seized the headquarters of the 17th Division in Sennar city, along with the 67th and 165th Infantry Brigades.

Troops from the 66th Infantry Brigade in Al-Mazmum withdrew before the RSF arrived.

Videos showed civilians mocking the retreating soldiers and claiming to guard the brigade’s headquarters.

The RSF advanced in both directions, taking key areas in Sennar and moving close to the Blue Nile and Gedaref States. It have besieged Sennar city and threatened the Dinder region in Gedaref.

Both the army and RSF claim control of a vital bridge linking Sennar and Gedaref.