Sudanese armed movement says 265 fighters defect from rival pro-RSF faction

August 27, 2026 (KHARTOUM) – A Sudanese armed movement that signed the 2020 Juba Peace Agreement and fights alongside the military said on Thursday that 265 fighters had defected from a splinter faction allied with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to rejoin its ranks.

The Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), led by Sudanese Finance Minister Gibril Ibrahim, said the group included 15 officers and more than 250 non-commissioned officers and soldiers led by Commander Bashir Abakar Abdelsalam.

JEM spokesperson Mohammed Zakaria said in a statement that the group broke away from the faction led by Suleiman Sandal, the movement’s former political secretary who formed a separate group in August 2023 over disagreements regarding the conflict before aligning with the RSF.

Zakaria said the returning fighters decided to back the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Joint Force, a coalition of Darfur peace signatories fighting alongside the military.

The movement said it was completing administrative procedures to integrate the personnel into its active ranks.

The development is part of a broader pattern of shifting allegiances and defections among armed groups and commanders since fighting broke out between the army and the RSF in April 2023. Several prominent field commanders have previously left the RSF to join the military.