Paramilitary Force Captures Sudan’s Darfur Region

Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known mononymously as Hemedti, greets the audience at a speech in 2020. Photo: Ebrahim Hamid/AFP.

The Sudanese Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary faction of the country’s divided military, are nearing capturing Darfur, a province in eastern Sudan, as of Nov. 8. 

The latest round of civil conflict in Sudan began in April when the Sudanese military government moved to integrate the RSF into the official armed forces - a shift that would cripple the power of the paramilitary group. 

For individual RSF fighters, the conflict is not only the one of power, but also of land and property. The fighters have used the chaotic situation to confiscate civilian resources and loot homes, seizing assets for themselves as 3.8 millions have been displaced.

The conflict has claimed at least 9,000 lives thus far, many in civilian-focused attacks on villages and refugee camps. On Nov. 2, RSF attacked a camp for internally displaced people in Armadata, West Darfur, killing 1300. Montesser Saddam, a witness of the attack whose name has been changed for protection purposes, said the paramilitary group “went house to house to search for men and killed each one they found.” 

The RSF is rooted in the Arab militias that perpetrated the Darfur genocide of 2003, and their ethnic cleansing of Masalit people has continued in the latest conflict. The Ardamata attack targeted Masalit civilians, and resulted in the killing of a Masalit tribal leader. Andrew Mitchell, UK minister for Africa, told reporters that the conflict contains “all the hallmarks of ethnic cleansing.”

The RSF’s acts of violence against civilians have drawn international condemnation. Clementine Nkweta-Salami, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Sudan, spoke in a news conference on Friday of “unrelenting and appalling… grave violations of human and childrens” committed by RSF in the conflict.

Toby Harward, the UN’s deputy humanitarian coordinator in Sudan, wrote a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Nov. 7 citing “sickening reports and images coming from Ardamata,” including “grave violations and massacres of civilians.” The United States has placed visa restrictions on Abdul Rahman Juma, the RSF’s West Darfur section commander, and sanctioned Abdelrahim Hamdan Dagalo, deputy commander of the paramilitary group and brother of the group’s general known by his nickname, Hemedti.

As the RSF has advanced throughout Darfur and left a trail of mass violence, the flight of citizens has created one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises. Approximately 4.5 million people have fled their homes since April, some internally displaced and some fleeing to neighboring countries.

Sudanese women cross the border between Sudan and Chad in 2023. Photo: Zohra Bensemra/Reuters.

With the crisis worsening in Darfur, humanitarian groups are struggling to provide aid amidst the raging violence. Elsadig Elnour, director of aid in Sudan for Islamic Relief, said that “there is no access for international NGOs… as there are no safe routes.” Islamic Relief and Concern Worldwide, another international NGO, were forced to suspend all operations in Darfur in July due to safety risks for aid workers.

Hemedti, the mononymous commander of the RSF, owes his foothold in Sudan, and difficulty to take down, in part to foreign connections. His assistance to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in the civil war in Yemen earned their backing in the RSF’s clash with the Sudanese military government. The RSF’s UAE-tied financial network has been a boon for Hemedti and his troops. As the United States attempts to cripple the group with sanctions, this mission is near-impossible without the support of the UAE.