Sudan RSF leader vows push to Khartoum, Darfur governor denies retreat
May 30, 2025 (EL FASHER) – Rapid Support Forces (RSF) deputy leader, Abdel Rahim Daglo, on Friday vowed his fighters would continue their eastward advance towards the capital Khartoum, adding that all the armed groups members of the Tasis coalition are now fighting along with his paramilitary group. While the army’s ally and the Darfur governor downplayed recent battlefield setbacks for the army as “reorganization.”
The RSF’s deputy leader told a gathering of his troops at an undisclosed location that they had achieved “great victories” in Al-Dubaibat and Al-Hammadi in South Kordofan state, and Al-Khawi in West Kordofan.
The RSF stated on Thursday that it had retaken Al-Dubaibat, Al-Hammadi, Kazgail, Al-Khawi, and Umm Samima in the Kordofan region. However, army-aligned soldiers later released video footage purportedly showing their control over Umm Samima, west of El Obeid, North Kordofan’s capital.
Daglo pledged the RSF would push towards El Obeid, Kosti in White Nile state, Khartoum, and Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast.
He claimed that members of the “Sudan Founding Coalition,” an alliance including the RSF, were fighting alongside his forces. He specifically named fighters from the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) led by Abdelaziz al-Hilu, and the Sudan Liberation Movement-Transitional Council (SLM-TC) faction led by El Hadi Idris. Daglo added that other groups, including the Sudan Liberation Forces Gathering led by El Tahir Hajar, were en route to join them.
Meanwhile, Minni Minawi, the governor of the Darfur region and leader of a Sudan Liberation Movement faction allied with the army, described recent events in Kordofan as “merely a reorganization.”
“Reorganization and focusing on completing the remaining steps does not mean we are retreating or weakening,” Minawi wrote on his Facebook page. He asserted that the army, joint forces, and popular resistance would “achieve victory again.”
“Our grieving people in the Kordofan and Darfur regions will rejoice soon,” he added.