Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) denied on Tuesday reports about the release of RSF Brigadier General al-Fateh Abdullah Idris, known as Abu Lulu, who was arrested late last year following global outrage over videos of him executing unarmed people in al-Fashir.
In a statement, the RSF “categorically” denied the reports, slamming them as “baseless” and being part of a “campaigns of incitement.”
Two sources – a Sudanese intelligence official and a commander with the RSF – said they personally saw Abu Lulu on the battlefield in Kordofan in March, said a Reuters report on Monday.
The RSF stressed that Abu Lulu and a number of individuals, accused of violations against civilians in al-Fashir, have been detained since their arrest in October.
“They remain in prison and have never left,” it added.
RSF officers had pleaded for Abu Lulu to be returned to the field to boost the morale of forces engulfed in heavy fighting there, a Chadian military officer told Reuters.
Reuters spoke with 13 sources who said they knew of Abu Lulu’s release. They include three RSF commanders, an RSF officer, a relative of Abu Lulu, a Chadian military officer close to RSF command and seven other sources with contacts in RSF leadership or access to intelligence on RSF field operations.
The RSF-led coalition government, in response to questions from Reuters, issued a statement on Monday denying the group had released Abu Lulu.
A special court will try him and others accused of violations during the al-Fashir offensive, according to the statement from Ahmed Tugud Lisan, spokesman for the RSF-led Tasis government.
The RSF imprisoned Abu Lulu in late October 2025, a few days after its bloody takeover of al-Fashir, a large city in North Darfur.
Multiple videos had surfaced of him executing unarmed people during the offensive. His actions earned him the nickname “the butcher of al-Fashir,” a moniker noted by the UN Security Council when sanctioning him on February 24 for human rights abuses.
The three-year civil war between the Sudanese army and the RSF is a brutal power struggle to control the country and its financial resources. It has created what aid groups say is the world's largest humanitarian crisis.
