Sudan's RSF Attempts to Quash Dissident Darfur Militia Leader
Formerly quiet area of Darfur erupts into violence; Chad border region tense
The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on Monday seized control of Misteriha, the stronghold of Arab tribal leader Musa Hilal, a longtime rival and critic of RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.
The intra-Arab fighting in Darfur is taking place within the wider conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a regional paramilitary that mutinied in 2023. Although these two actors dominate headlines and shape media narratives, the conflict also encompasses a complex configuration of local, regional, and ideological armed groups that are either allied with one of the main belligerents, independent, or loosely affiliated in one way or another.
Hilal has an independent power base near the mountainous enclave at the heart of the region, Jebel Marra (which is controlled by another independent faction, the Sudan Liberation Movement led by Abdel Wahid al-Nur). Though independent, Hilal also is likely receiving support from Sudan’s military in the form of weapons and money, consistent with past patterns of proxy warfare and Hilal’s own history of working with military intelligence.
The assault on Misteriha followed a Sunday evening drone strike targeting Hilal’s guest house during a Ramadan iftar gathering. There are conflicting reports regarding the casualties resulting from the strike. The town, long associated with Hilal’s Mahamid tribal militia, had remained outside direct RSF authority since the outbreak of the ongoing civil war in April 2023. By midday Monday, RSF fighters were inside a compound identified as Hilal’s guest house, broadcasting footage of their presence.
The offensive could consolidate the RSF’s control over Darfur, but it also risks stoking internal dissent or fragmentation. Hilal’s constituency overlaps with that of the RSF; he is a tribal leader from the same Rizeigat Arab tribe that dominates within the RSF. Conflict videos verified by Sudan War Monitor earlier in the war (2023-2024) indicate that some of Hilal’s commanders and troops have fought alongside the RSF in Khartoum, El Fasher, and elsewhere.
Furthermore, this fighting raises the likelihood of Sudan’s conflict spilling into Chad, since Hilal’s Rizeigat Mahamid tribe inhabits both sides of the border, and his fighters also have a history of involvement in Libya.
Chad’s government and security services are internally divided over which side to support in Sudan’s conflict, and several noteworthy cross-border clashes have taken place in recent weeks. In 2012, a daughter of Musa Hilal, Amani Musa Hilal, married the late Chadian President Idriss Déby, father of Chad’s current ruler, according to Arabic-language press reports at the time.
The marriage reportedly involved a $26 million dowry and coincided with a rapprochement between the Sudanese and Chadian governments after a long era of proxy warfare.