RSF LEADER DAGALO VOWS NEW ESCALATION IN KHARTOUM AND PORT SUDAN

Mon 17 March 2025:

The leader of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in Sudan vowed on Saturday to continue fighting and threatened new offensives against the Sudanese army. In a video statement, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemetti, said that the RSF will not withdraw from the presidential palace or the capital, Khartoum.

“The situation is different now,” said the rebel commander. “The war is inside Khartoum, and we will not leave the presidential palace.”

Dagalo also threatened “countries that supported the army,” saying that they “will pay the price.” His forces will target Port Sudan, he added, which is used by the army as a centre for managing the country’s affairs. Port Sudan is also home to the headquarters of UN agencies and diplomatic missions.

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His statement came at a time when the army has made significant progress in the fighting over the past few months.

In a related context, the Wall Street Journal, had reported previously that Dagalo had disappeared from the battlefields for months, sparking widespread discontent among his soldiers, who felt abandoned.

Last week, the Sudanese army commander, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, said that there would be “no negotiations” with the RSF “unless they surrender their weapons and hold their members accountable.” The army is advancing on several fronts in the war with the RSF militia that has been raging since mid-April 2023.

Who is ‘Hemedti’, general behind Sudan’s feared RSF force?

Dagalo was born around 1974 into the Mahariya tribe of the Rizeigat community in Darfur, the nephew of a tribal chief in the camel-trading branch of the Rizeigat.

He has little formal education, dropping out of school in the third grade and later becoming a camel trader.

The most common story about Dagalo is that he was compelled to take up arms in the Darfur conflict when men attacked his trade envoy, killed 60 members of his family and looted his camels.

He joined the Janjaweed, a conglomeration of Arab tribal militias mostly drawn from camel-trading tribes and active in Darfur and parts of Chad.

He rose through the ranks, catching the eye of President al-Bashir, who was recruiting Janjaweed to fight non-Arab people who began revolting against his rule in 2003 in Darfur, and Dagalo soon became a commander.

Human rights groups have accused the Janjaweed of war crimes – including killings, rapes and torture of civilians – throughout the conflict in Darfur.

The RSF was formed in 2013 under Dagalo’s leadership. It combined elements of the Janjaweed into a new force under the auspices of al-Bashir and his National Intelligence and Security Services.

Following al-Bashir’s departure, a civilian-military partnership was set up, and Dagalo positioned himself well in that transitional period.

He became the deputy head of the Transitional Military Council, which held power right after al-Bashir fell, and then became part of its successor, the Sovereignty Council, Abdel Ghafar said.

And, as he has always done, Dagalo cracked down hard on dissenters.

Over the years, Dagalo has forged powerful ties both in the region and internationally.

He sent RSF forces to fight Iran-aligned Houthi rebels in Yemen, allying with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

He has also met Western ambassadors, held talks with rebel groups, forged peace between warring tribes and spoke publicly about the importance of democracy in Sudan as he made no effort to hide his animosity towards the army.

-with MEMO

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