A force affiliated with Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) defected on Friday and joined the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), Sudan’s state news agency SUNA reported.
The force was led by Al-Tayeb Mohammed Ahmed, also known as Al-Tayeb Al-Wahido.
Senior officials from the Sudanese army and the General Intelligence Service received the defecting fighters, according to SUNA.
In a press statement, Al-Wahido said that he had broken away from the RSF and joined the army after witnessing what he described as “tragedies” within the paramilitary group’s ranks.
He called on other RSF members to join the army, “return to the homeland” and reconsider their positions, arguing that “there is no cause that justified the continuation of the fighting.”
There was no immediate comment from the RSF on the reported defection.
The latest move follows a series of defections from the RSF in recent weeks.
On August 31, around 200 RSF fighters, including prominent field commanders, defected and joined the army in Omdurman, bringing military equipment with them, according to the report.
Earlier, on August 19, the Sudanese army said 318 RSF personnel, including four commanders, had defected with up to 50 combat vehicles.
On August 13, Sudanese authorities announced that 21 commanders and 270 fighters had joined the army along with 37 combat vehicles.
Sudan has been engulfed in a war between the army and the RSF since April 2023. The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions, triggering one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises.
