“Al-Safana”: Hemedti Injured… I Expect Abdel Rahim Dagalo to Surrender Before End of June
Ali Rizqallah “Al-Safana,” a defected commander from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia, announced on Saturday his intention to join the fighting alongside the army in Kordofan, advancing as far as Om Dafoug in the far south of Darfur on the border with the Central African Republic.
Rizqallah was considered one of the militia’s most prominent field commanders before his defection. He had previously led forces to seize positions in North Darfur before taking control of Al-Nuhud and reinforcing the militia’s presence in West Kordofan.
Speaking at a press conference held one day after his arrival in Khartoum, Al-Safana said he would lead combat operations alongside the army and allied forces to expel the RSF militia from areas in Kordofan and Darfur, extending to Om Dafoug in the coming period.
The defected commander officially announced his joining the army, which he described as the backbone of the country, noting that his forces would constitute a genuine addition to efforts aimed at liberating every inch of the country.
Al-Safana appeared at the press conference wearing Sudanese Armed Forces uniform bearing the rank of brigadier general.
In 2021, a military court issued a ruling dismissing Al-Safana from the armed forces and stripping him of the military rank granted to him under a peace agreement concluded with the regime of ousted President Omar Al-Bashir in 2013.
The defected commander disclosed that RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti) had been injured following an earlier attack near the General Command of the Sudanese Armed Forces in Khartoum.
He stated that Hemedti no longer possessed effective authority, asserting that decisions within the militia are now entirely controlled by external parties. He added that if Hemedti attempted to oppose those directives or deviate from the course drawn for him, he would be killed immediately.
Al-Safana also spoke of the militia’s involvement in systematic liquidation operations targeting senior and influential commanders within its ranks in order to advance specific agendas. He confirmed the killings of prominent figures such as Jalaha, Abdullah Hussein, and Hamid Ali Abu Bakr, who were reportedly killed at different times by drones.
The defected commander made a striking prediction, stating: “By the end of June, I expect Abdel Rahim Dagalo (‘Tahouna’) will surrender to the army.”
In a related context, he revealed that commanders Osman Operations and Issam Fidel are currently under house arrest in the United Arab Emirates.
Osman Hamid, a former major general in the Sudanese army, serves as the RSF operations commander, but he has largely disappeared from public view since the outbreak of the war, apart from a single appearance in Jebel Aulia. Issam Saleh Fadil is regarded as one of the RSF’s most prominent commanders and supervised what the force described as a campaign against “negative phenomena” during its presence in Khartoum.
Regarding the RSF’s foreign relations, Al-Safana said former Vice President Hassabou Mohamed Abdel Rahman serves as the RSF’s chief adviser and its effective coordinator with the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
He added that UAE support for the RSF militia, after failing to fully absorb the Sudanese state, is now aimed at separating the Darfur and Kordofan regions from the rest of the country.
Al-Safana recounted details of his dramatic departure from RSF-controlled areas in the Darfur region, explaining that he left through the city of Al-Daein in East Darfur State under an official movement order approved by the force’s leadership. He then traveled to South Sudan, from there to India, before returning once again to Khartoum.
He denied RSF media accounts regarding his forces, describing them as a farcical charade, and said: “All my forces are currently present in areas controlled by the Sudanese Armed Forces.”
The defected commander further disclosed the deteriorating health conditions of thousands of detained civilians and military personnel amid catastrophic and dangerous circumstances inside “Dagrees” prison in Nyala, South Darfur State, affirming that large-scale liquidation operations against civilians and soldiers have been carried out inside the prison.