Sudan says 21 RSF commanders, 270 fighters defect to army

Adel Abdel Rahim and Sahin Demir

Sudanese authorities said Thursday that 21 commanders and 270 fighters from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) defected and joined the Sudanese army amid the ongoing conflict between the two sides.

In a statement, the Al-Dabbah locality in Northern State said RSF’s Group 55 and Group 47 surrendered a force comprising 21 commanders, 270 personnel and 37 combat vehicles before declaring allegiance to the Sudanese Armed Forces.

The statement quoted Border Guard Forces commander Col. Mohammed Saleh Younis as welcoming the defectors, saying their decision to join the army represented a step toward standing with the country.

Younis also called on remaining RSF members to lay down their arms and join the armed forces.

There was no immediate comment from RSF.

The announcement came a day after Hamad Mohammed Hamid Khalifa, the RSF-appointed governor of Kordofan region, announced his resignation and defection from the paramilitary group, according to local and regional media.

In recent weeks, RSF has seen a series of defections involving military and political figures, including political adviser Fares al-Nour, Maj. Gen. Al-Nour Ahmed Adam, known as “Al-Nour al-Qubba,” and field commander Ali Rizqallah, known as “Al-Safana.”

The three Kordofan states, along with Darfur and Blue Nile regions, have witnessed continued fighting between the Sudanese army and RSF in recent months.

Sudan has been engulfed in conflict since April 2023, when fighting erupted between the Sudanese army and RSF over plans to integrate the paramilitary force into the regular military. The war has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced around 13 million and triggered one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.