RSF leader Hemedti acknowledges losses but vows to fight on

The commander of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, rejected peace and vowed that his troops would return to Sudan’s capital and major cities, after being dislodged during fighting earlier this year.

However, the rebel leader also toned down his previously hostile rhetoric toward neighboring Egypt, saying, “we must solve our problems through dialogue” and “we don’t have any problem with anyone [any nation], including the Egyptians.”

The RSF, which mutinied against the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) in 2023, now controls large parts of western Sudan, while SAF controls the central and eastern parts of the country. The RSF claims to have formed a new government, while describing the military government in Port Sudan as illegitimate. The civil war, now in its third year, has wrecked the nation’s economy and caused a humanitarian disaster.

Dagalo, nicknamed “Hemedti,” delivered the remarks during a rare public appearance before thousands of RSF fighters at an undisclosed location in the northern part of South Darfur State on Monday. It marked his first direct address to troops since July 2023, when he appeared alongside RSF forces in southern Khartoum during the height of RSF advances across the capital and parts of east-central Sudan.

The highly orchestrated rally is part of an attempt to rehabilitate the RSF leader’s image as a field leader who is in touch with his troops, after some field commanders and rank-and-file RSF members criticized the leadership for being distant, out-of-touch, and at fault for recent battlefield losses.

Below is a propaganda video produced by the RSF’s media wing, showcasing the scene of the rally. A longer video of the speech itself also was released.

Hemedti’s previous speeches were mostly video messages delivered from undisclosed locations. For example, prior to the RSF’s loss of Khartoum to SAF in late March, Hemedti released a pre-recorded message pledging to defend the Republican Palace, which at the time had been nearly encircled by SAF.

Despite urging his troops not to withdraw, the RSF’s defenses in Khartoum quickly collapsed, resulting in a chaotic retreat as the Sudanese army fully reclaimed the capital Khartoum and, after further fighting, its sister city Omdurman.

Hemedti’s latest appearance comes as the Sudanese military continues its westward into RSF-controlled territory in the Kordofan region. One ongoing objective of the SAF is to break the siege of Dilling, where the army’s 54th Brigade, part of the 14th Infantry Division, has remained encamped since the early stages of the war amid coordinated pressure from RSF and allied SPLM-North forces.

Despite massive territorial losses last year and early this year, the RSF scored a handful of limited victories more recently. For instance, the RSF seized the strategically significant tri-border region between Libya, Sudan, and Egypt— commonly referred to as the Triangle, or Jebel Uweinat—and captured An-Nahud, the administrative capital of West Kordofan