Lieutenant-General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, commander of Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF), told thousands of fighters on Sunday that his campaign is a “war of dignity” against “coup-minded officers” in General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan’s army (SAF) and should not be confused with a bid for power.
Speaking in a wooded clearing outside the western city of El Geneina, Dagalo – widely known as Hemedti – accused Burhan’s Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and allied Islamists of preparing the conflict years in advance while portraying the RSF as smugglers and drug traffickers. “We never sought authority,” he said. “They imposed this war; we rose only to defend our people.”
Dagalo added that any dispute with Egypt “belongs at the negotiating table,” pledging to respect all Sudan’s borders. The RSF, he said, now controls the sparsely populated desert “border triangle” where Sudan meets Egypt and Libya – a corridor once dominated by traffickers of gold, weapons and migrants. Captured on 11 June, the area is “secured for Sudan and for our neighbours,” he told the crowd.
War’s origins
The fighting, which erupted on 15 April 2023, stemmed from the collapse of a power-sharing deal struck after the 2019 overthrow of Omar al-Bashir. Rival security forces in Khartoum clashed over plans to fold the RSF into the SAF, triggering battles that spread nationwide. UN figures put the death toll above 150,000 and displacement near 12 million.
Strategic triangle
The Jebel Uweinat triangle straddles long-used smuggling routes. RSF control offers fresh income and a launch-pad toward southern Egypt and eastern Libya – regions Cairo and Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar view as strategic red lines.
Egypt’s stance
Egypt, Burhan’s strongest foreign supporter, denies RSF claims that it secretly supplies arms and drones to the SAFS. Analysts say Cairo fears the RSF could export instability across the 1,200-km frontier. Dagalo’s public overture aims to reassure Egyptian officials even as both sides trade accusations of cross-border strikes.
Humanitarian crisis
Ongoing battles from Khartoum to Darfur have gutted supply lines and driven vast hunger. UN human-rights chief Volker Türk last week warned of “boundless horror”; the UN says 30 million Sudanese need aid. Both RSF and SAF checkpoints have blocked relief convoys.
Battle for resources
Sudan’s gold, oil and livestock underpin the war economy. Roughly 80 tonnes of gold were produced in 2024, much of it smuggled to Gulf states and Russia, financing drones, armoured vehicles and fuel despite sanctions. Control of oil fields in White Nile state and fertile cropland along the Blue Nile adds further leverage.
Political outreach
Dagalo invited Darfur rebel leaders Minni Arko Minawi and Gibril Ibrahim to join what he called a front for “justice and change,” painting the RSF as guardian of the 2019 revolution. He dismissed new allegations of RSF atrocities and accused army units of training with chemical weapons.
“We are men of peace,” he concluded, “but either we remove them or they remove us. There is no middle ground when Sudan’s dignity is on the line.”