Rapid Support Forces
Sign in to saveAlso known as RSF, Quwwāt ad-daʿm as-sarīʿ
The Rapid Support Forces are a Sudanese paramilitary force formerly operated by the Sudanese government. They originated as auxiliary force militias known as the Janjaweed used by the Sudanese government during the War in Darfur, which the government later restructured as a paramilitary organization in August 2013 under the command of Muhammad Dagalo, better known by his nom de guerre Hemedti.
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Key facts
- Commander
- Hemedti
- Deputy head
- Abdul Rahim Dagalo
- Head of operations
- Osman Mohamed Hamid Mohamed ( since November 2024 )
- East darfur commander
- Abdul Rahman Jumma
- Spokesperson
- Yousif Ibrahim Ismaeil ( 2021–2024 ), Mohamed Mokhtar and Al-Fateh al-Qurashi ( 2024–present )
- Foundation
- August 2013
- Allegiance
- Government of Sudan (2013–2023), Territory of the Rapid Support Forces ( 2023–2025 ), Government of Peace and Unity ( 2025–present )
- Ideology
- Baggara interests , Arab supremacy , New Sudan (self-presented, disputed) , Anti-Black racism , Africanist populism (disputed) , Anti-Islamism (disputed) , Secularism , Tribalism
- Notable attacks
- Darfur genocide (2023–present) Khartoum massacre Masalit genocide 2024 eastern Gezira State massacres El Fasher massacre Ardamata massacre Galgani massacre Misterei massacre RSF atrocities in Khartoum Wad An Nora massacre
- Size
- 100,000 (2023) to 150,000 , 450,000 (2026) (Per Hemedti)
- Part of
- National Intelligence and Security Service and Sudanese Armed Forces (until 2023)
- Allies
- State allies: , Sudan (before 2023), United Arab Emirates (denied) , Chad (alleged, denied) , Non-state allies: , Wagner Group (until early 2024) , Libyan National Army (denied) , Tamazuj , SPLM-N (al-Hilu) (since 2025) , Puntland (alleged) Coalition of Patriots for Change
- Battles and wars
- War in Darfur Sudanese conflict in South Kordofan and Blue Nile Second Libyan Civil War Western Libya campaign Yemeni civil war Saudi Arabian–led intervention in Yemen Sudanese civil war (2023–present)
- Website
- rapidsupportforce.com
via Wikipedia infobox
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Encyclopedic overview
The Rapid Support Forces (RSF; Arabic: قُوَّاتْ الدّعْمْ السَّرِيعْ, romanized: Quwwāt ad-daʿm as-sarīʿ) are a Sudanese paramilitary force formerly operated by the Sudanese government. They originated as auxiliary force militias known as the Janjaweed used by the Sudanese government during the War in Darfur, which the government later restructured as a paramilitary organization in August 2013 under the command of Muhammad Dagalo, better known by his nom de guerre Hemedti.
Since 2023, the RSF has been fighting a civil war against the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) for control of Sudan, after seizing power along with the SAF in the 2021 Sudanese coup d'état. In 2025, it established a parallel government called the Government of Peace and Unity.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Rapid Support Forces” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.