WEST KORDOFAN – A senior paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) field commander was killed in a drone strike near Abu Zabad, West Kordofan, just days after threatening new attacks against the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) in the region.
Social media accounts aligned with the RSF mourned the death of Taj Yousif, widely known by his nom de guerre “Volgang”, who led the RSF’s 13th military until in North Kordofan. According to local field sources, the drone targeted a military convoy in the vicinity of Abu Zabad on Wednesday, July 23, 2025. Two additional RSF commanders were reportedly killed in the same strike.
Volgang was considered one of the most prominent RSF field commanders operating in Kordofan and had played a key role in the group’s May 2025 offensives across West Kordofan. He reportedly participated in the capture of several towns, including Al-Khuwei, Al-Dibaybat, and Al-Hamadi.
RSF-aligned sources confirmed that a drone directly struck his vehicle in Abu Zabad, suggesting a targeted operation likely based on prior intelligence. The strike marks a significant blow to RSF operations in West and North Kordofan, where they paramilitary group has been engaged in a protracted battle with SAF forces.
Volgang’s death comes roughly one year after a similar airstrike killed another top RSF commander, Abdulrahman Hamid, known as “Al-Bishi”, in Blue Nile State. At the time, Al-Bishi was reportedly planning a major assault on Sennar, a strategic city in southeast Sudan.
Taj Yousif had previously taken a part in several of the RSF’s major campaigns in the capital, Khartoum. Between 2023 and 2024, he fought in battles around the Signal Corps, the Central Reserve Police headquarters, and the Al-Shajara military district areas that saw some the fiercest fighting during the RSF’s push to consolidate control over the city.
His recent statements threatening renewed RSF operations against SAF positions in Kordofan had raised concerns of a new wave of violence in the already volatile region. The swift and precise nature of the drone strike suggests a calculated effort to neutralize the threat before it materialized.
The killing of Volgang underscores the growing use of aerial warfare in Sudan’s ongoing conflict, particularly drone technology, which has shifted the dynamics of the battlefield and enabled targeted eliminations of high-ranking officers from both sides.
As the power struggle between the SAF and RSF drags on with no resolution in sight, such high-profile assassinations highlight the escalating intensity of the war, and the widening reach of its frontlines.
