Tribal mediation secures prisoner swap in Sudan’s Darfur region

September 28, 2024 (ABU GAMRA) – A tribal mediation effort has successfully negotiated a prisoner exchange between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and an allied force of armed movements fighting alongside the Sudanese army, an RSF advisor said on Saturday.

The deal comes after fierce clashes erupted in June near the town of al-Zarq, on the border between Sudan, Libya and Chad, between the RSF and fighters from the Sudan Liberation Movement and the Gathering of the Sudan Liberation Forces.

Those clashes were an extension of ongoing fighting between the two sides in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, where both sides had taken prisoners.

“Seventeen soldiers from the joint force and one RSF member were released in a prisoner exchange deal brokered by Zaghawa tribal leaders and independent elders in North Darfur,” RSF commander advisor Ayub Osman Nahar told Sudan Tribune.

He said RSF field commanders from the Zaghawa tribe, with the help of native administration leaders and independent elders, held meetings with mobilized groups in Dar Zaghawa that led to the agreement.

Nahar said the RSF had previously released a group of captured joint force members as a goodwill gesture, while the joint force released an RSF member named Saleh Juma.

He said the prisoners were handed over in the town of Abu Gamra in the Karnoi locality of North Darfur state.

“This step confirms the commitment to overcoming differences through dialogue,” Nahar said, stressing that the RSF is seeking peace and social peace.

He added that the prisoner exchange could be a model for resolving future disputes and preventing the conflict from further escalating.

The RSF launched a military operation on El Fasher in May aimed at seizing the last strongholds of the central government in the Darfur region. The offensive slowed after the death of its leader, Ali Yaqoub, in June before escalating again in September.