Members of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) continue to defect to the Sudanese Army, but the presence of RSF fighters in areas where they are accused of committing atrocities against civilians angers those who witnessed the carnage.
In May, Ali “Al-Safna” Rizqallah, a former RSF commander who defected alongside other senior figures, was granted a military rank, the Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper reported. Al-Safna played key roles in the battles of Kordofan and El-Fasher. The United Nations found that the 18-month siege on El-Fasher ended in a deadly spree that showed the “hallmarks of genocide.”
Many locals believe the RSF fighters defect to avoid accountability for their crimes, including mass killings, summary executions, sexual violence, abductions for ransom, torture, and the use of children in hostilities. Halima Ismail, who survived RSF raids around El-Fasher, where Al-Safna served as a commander, is among those who disapprove of former RSF fighters being welcomed into the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). She said she was whipped by the paramilitary fighters and saw them raping women.
“The RSF fighters, even if they seek God’s forgiveness, I can’t forgive them because of what I’ve seen face to face,” Ismail told Reuters.
Al-Safna’s defection was preceded by several others, including the April departure of Al-Nour “al-Qubba” Ahmed Adam, who gave the SAF more than 130 combat vehicles, a group of loyalists, high-level tactical intelligence and years of brutal battlefield experience.
The first high-ranking RSF commander to abandon the group was Abu Aqla Keikal, who left in October 2024 while commanding RSF forces in Gezira State in east-central Sudan.
Observers such as retired SAF Brig. Gen. Amin Ismail, now a crisis management expert, have said internal tensions were amplified after an RSF attack on North Darfur’s Mustaraha pastoral area in February that targeted the territory of a prominent chief of the Mahariya clan. Many RSF commanders are Mahariya, as are Al-Qubba and Al-Safna. Ismail told the Sudan Tribune newspaper that grievances over medical care, pay and the favoring of Mahariya rivals also increased internal RSF turmoil.
Analysts say the SAF is keen to capitalize on these divisions and welcome more defectors.
Despite the internal turmoil, analysts warn that the RSF may launch an all-out assault on the city of El Obeid, capital of North Kordofan State. An international coalition of 29 countries in mid-June warned the United Nations Human Rights Council of escalating violence in and around the city.
“We are gravely alarmed by the urgent risks of atrocities and deliberate killings in Sudan,” the Coalition for Atrocity Prevention and Justice for Sudan said. The coalition said about 500,000 civilians are “at risk of falling victim to large-scale atrocities.” The SAF is also accused of committing atrocities against civilians.
According to the coalition, drone strikes killed at least 50 civilians in El Obeid over a recent 10-day stretch. “Widespread credible reports of ethnically targeted violence, including sexual and gender-based violence, are deplorable,” the coalition said.
Between June 18 and 21, drone attacks reportedly targeted multiple locations in El Obeid, including a power substation and a fuel station, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported. These attacks forced the closure of several medical facilities and caused the shutdown of water stations. U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk noted that El Obeid residents have endured siege-like conditions for 18 months.
“We have seen this playbook before,” Türk said. “We cannot allow the repeat of the preventable atrocities we documented in al-Fasher and Zamzam IDP camp in North Darfur last year. Let this be a stark warning to the world about an impending human rights disaster and worsening humanitarian situation. The States with influence have the duty to exercise it now to stop this madness in its tracks.”
