RSF suffers setback as top commander Abu A’aqla Keykel defects to SAF in Al Jazira

SENNAR – Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) suffered a significant setback on Sunday when their commander and de facto governor of Al Jazira State, Major-General Abu Aaqla Keykel, defected to the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF).

Videos circulating online show Keykel meeting and chanting ‘Allahu Akbar’ (God is greatest) with SAF commander Brigadier-General Ahmed Sha’eddin, surrounded by dozens of celebrating soldiers at the Al-Labator Mountains northeast of the capital Wad Madani.

Al Labator Mountains is a mountainous area located 30 kilometers northeast of Wad Madani and 22 kilometers southeast of Butana locality where Kekel departed the RSF.

Local sources also reported to Sudans Post that SAF captured Butana town, the capital of Butana locality, earlier that morning.

A security source in Al Fao, Al Qadarif state, told Sudans Post yesterday that the army had “launched a deadly offensive against the RSF two days ago” and that SAF forces “were later able to enter the city of Shabarga,” which is 19 kilometers south of Wad Madani.

In a statement, SAF spokesman Brigadier-General Nabil Abdallah confirmed Keykel’s defection and welcomed any defecting soldier who wishes to switch sides from the RSF.

“The commander in the terrorist Daglo militia Abu Aqla Keykel and a large number of his forces, siding with the truth and the nation and deciding to fight alongside our army, abandoned the lines of the rebel after discovering the falsehood of the claims of the terrorist Daglo militia and their co-conspirators and that they are no more than cheap tools to achieve a regional and international agenda of destroying the country in terms of land, people and capabilities,” he said.

The statement further reiterated the presidential amnesty offered to RSF soldiers who returned to the army, suggesting that Keykel himself would be granted amnesty for his past actions, including the killings and RSF attacks in several villages in Al Jazira State that have killed hundreds since December.

“The armed forces welcomes this brave step taken by them and confirms that its doors remain open to all those who side with the national and the armed forces. also renew the amnesty of the head of the sovereignty council and commander in chief of the armed forces to any rebel that sides with the nation and reports to the nearest army base in all parts of Sudan,” it added.

Keykel’s defection is a significant blow to the RSF, as he was a key figure within the paramilitary group’s leadership structure. As a commander and de facto governor of Al Jazira State, he commanded a substantial number of troops and controlled strategic areas.

His defection to the SAF not only weakens the RSF’s military capabilities but also undermines the morale of the group’s soldiers as he was the only commander from Al Jazirah State beside Abdelrahaman El Bishi who was killed in August by the SAF.

It also comes as the army continues to make advance since launched offensives in the capital Khartoum, Darfur and Al Jazira.

These attacks have resulted in heavy fighting and civilian casualties and as a result the SAF has captured eastern sides of three key bridges in Khartoum: the Halfaya bridges (connecting Omdurman to Bahri) and the White Nile and El-Futihab (Victory) bridges (connecting Omdurman to Khartoum) and penetrating RSF defensive positions in Al Mogran, north parts of Khartoum town.