Sudan’s RSF commander Mohamed Dagalo fires political adviser

Dismissal of Youssif Ibrahim Ezzat exposes divisions within paramilitary group

Gen Mohamed Dagalo, leader of Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. Mohamed Daglo / X

The head of Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces fired his top political adviser in a possible sign of differences within the paramilitary group as it battles the army in civil war that has devastated the country.

The RSF said Gen Mohamed Dagalo, also known as Hemedti, dismissed Youssif Ibrahim Ezzat with immediate effect on Wednesday.

Mr Ezzat said on Thursday that he had asked to be relieved of his position because of potential differences with deputy RSF commander Abdelrahim Dagalo, the leader's brother.

“Neither experience nor convictions allow me to work under Abdelrahim’s leadership because political work was linked to brother Hemedti as vice president of the Sovereignty Council, which is a job of a political nature,” he said on X.

Abdelrahim Dagalo was sanctioned by the US in September over human rights abuses.

The war between the RSF and the Sudanese army, led by Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan, has raged since April last year despite repeated international efforts to broker peace.

The conflict has left tens of thousands of people dead and displaced more than 10 million, according to the UN.

A recent UN-backed report said nearly 26 million people, or slightly more than half of the population, were facing high levels of “acute food insecurity”.

Large parts of war-torn Sudan are inaccessible to aid workers, a Red Cross official said on Wednesday, as devastating fighting between the army and paramilitaries rages on.

“There are plenty of areas we cannot access, sometimes because they are very dangerous, and sometimes we do not receive permission,” Pierre Dorbes, a representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross, said in Port Sudan, the Red Sea city where the army, government and UN agencies are now based.

“Improving access will help millions of people.”

Volunteer groups have set up communal kitchens in some areas with support from international organisations.

“We provide about 2,000 meals a day, and this number is increasing daily,” Esmat Mohamed, who supervises one such initiative in the capital Khartoum, told AFP.

But international groups face logistical hurdles in transferring funds to volunteers on the ground, said one employee who requested anonymity for security reasons.

In the town of Dilling, near the South Sudan border, Kinda Komi volunteers to provide meals to those in need.

“Since the start of the war, no food aid has reached the town, and the roads connecting it to the rest of the country have been cut due to the clashes,” she said.

“Half of those in need leave without receiving meals.”