, image = Rapid Support Forces emblem.png , image_size = , caption = RSF Seal , start_date = August 2013 , dates = , country = , allegiance = , branch = , command_structure =

Sudanese Armed Forces The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF; ar, القوات المسلحة السودانية, Al-Quwwat al-Musallaha as-Sudaniyah) are the military forces of the Republic of the Sudan. In 2011, IISS estimated the regular forces' numbers at personnel, whi ...

, type =

Paramilitary A paramilitary is an organization whose structure, tactics, training, subculture, and (often) function are similar to those of a professional military, but is not part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. Paramilitary units carr ...

, role = , garrison = , garrison_label = , equipment = , equipment_label = , nickname = , motto = , march = , mascot = , battles = , anniversaries = , decorations = , battle_honours = , commander1 = Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo
ar, محمد حمدان دقلو ("Hemetti") , commander1_label = RSF Commander , commander2 = Abdul Rahim Hamdan Dagalo , commander2_label = RSF deputy head , ceremonial_chief = , ceremonial_chief_label = , identification_symbol = RSF , identification_symbol_label = Abbreviation , identification_symbol_2 = , identification_symbol_2_label = , website=https://rsf.gov.sd/ The Rapid Support Forces ( ar, قوات الدعم السريع) are Sudanese

paramilitary A paramilitary is an organization whose structure, tactics, training, subculture, and (often) function are similar to those of a professional military, but is not part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. Paramilitary units carr ...

forces operated by the

Sudanese Government Currently, the politics of Sudan takes place in the framework of a federal provisional government. Previously, a ''president'' was head of state, head of government, and commander-in-chief of the Sudanese Armed Forces in a ''de jure'' multi-p ...

. The RSF grew out of, and is primarily composed of, the

Janjaweed The Janjaweed ( ar, جنجويد, Janjawīd, lit=mounted gunman; also transliterated ''Janjawid'') are a Sudanese Arab militia group that operate in Sudan, particularly Darfur, and eastern Chad. Using the United Nations definition, the Janjaweed ...

militias which fought on behalf of the Sudanese government during the

War in Darfur The War in Darfur, also nicknamed the Land Cruiser War, is a major armed conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan that began in February 2003 when the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) rebel groups beg ...

, killing and raping civilians and burning their houses.Emad Hassan
Militiamen in Sudan raped men and women, says eyewitness

Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle (; "German Wave" in English), abbreviated to DW, is a German public, state-owned international broadcaster funded by the German federal tax budget. The service is available in 32 languages. DW's satellite television service cons ...

(6 September 2019). The RSF's actions in Darfur qualify as

crimes against humanity Crimes against humanity are widespread or systemic acts committed by or on behalf of a ''de facto'' authority, usually a state, that grossly violate human rights. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity do not have to take place within the ...

according to

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human ...

. The RSF are administered by the National Intelligence and Security Service, although during military operations they are commanded by the Sudanese Armed Forces. , the commander of the RSF is General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo ("Hemetti"). During the Sudanese political crisis of 2019, the

military junta A military junta () is a government led by a committee of military leaders. The term ''junta'' means "meeting" or "committee" and originated in the national and local junta organized by the Spanish resistance to Napoleon's invasion of Spain in ...

who took control of the country employed the RSF to violently crack down on pro-democracy demonstrators. Along with other security forces, the RSF carried out the

Khartoum massacre The Khartoum massacre occurred on 3 June 2019, when the armed forces of the Sudanese Transitional Military Council, headed by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the immediate successor organisation to the Janjaweed militia, used heavy gunfire and ...

on 3 June 2019.

Origin

The RSF has its roots in the Janjaweed militias used by the Sudanese Government in its attempts to fight the anti-government insurgency during the

. The RSF was officially formed in August 2013 under the command of the NISS, following a restructuring and reactivation of Janjaweed militias in order to combat rebel groups in Darfur region, South Kordofan, and the Blue Nile states, following joint attacks by Sudanese Revolutionary Front rebels in North and South Kordofan in April 2013.

Leadership and numbers

The RSF is headed by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo ("Hemetti"), who has been its leader since it was created in 2013 or 2014. , Hemetti's brother Abdul Rahim Hamdan Dagalo is deputy head of the RSF. The RSF was estimated by

as having about 5,0006,000 soldiers in February 2014 in Darfur. In 2016–2017, the RSF had 40,000 members participating in the Yemeni Civil War. In late October 2019, 10,000 had returned to Sudan. In July 2019, about 1,000 RSF soldiers were present in Libya, supporting the

Libyan National Army The Libyan National Army (LNA; ar, الجيش الوطني الليبي, ''al-jaysh al-waṭaniyy al-Lībii'') is a component of Libya's military forces which were nominally a unified national force under the command of Field Marshal Khalifa H ...

commanded by

Khalifa Haftar Field Marshal Khalifa Belqasim Haftar ( ar, خليفة بلقاسم حفتر, Ḵalīfa Bilqāsim Ḥaftar; born 7 November 1943) is a Libyan-American politician, military officer, and the commander of the Tobruk-based Libyan National Army (LN ...

Role

Migration control

In addition to its role in Darfur, the RSF is also deployed to patrol the border with Libya and round up Eritrean and Ethiopian refugees in response to the Khartoum process, which is an initiative between European and African states, including Sudan, to stem the flow of migrants to Europe.

Business interests

In November 2017, Hemetti used the RSF to take over control of gold mines in the Darfur region, which led to him becoming one of the richest people in Sudan by 2019. Hemetti's brother Abdul Rahim, deputy head of the RSF, heads the Al Junaid (or ''Al Gunade'') corporation involved in gold mining and trading in Sudan. In December 2019, a ''

Global Witness Global Witness is an international NGO established in 1993 that works to break the links between natural resource exploitation, conflict, poverty, corruption, and human rights abuses worldwide. The organisation has offices in London and Washin ...

'' investigation into the RSF and Al Junaid argued that the RSF and Al Junaid are closely linked in terms of financial transactions. ''Global Witness'' stated that "the RSF and l Junaid hadcaptured a swathe of the udanesegold industry and erelikely using it to fund their operations." The General Manager of Al Junaid stated to

Thomson Reuters Thomson Reuters Corporation ( ) is a Canadian multinational media conglomerate. The company was founded in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, where it is headquartered at the Bay Adelaide Centre. Thomson Reuters was created by the Thomson Corp ...

that there were no close links between the two. The RSF has two front companies called ''GSK'', a small Sudanese technology company, and ''Tradive General Trading LLC'', a United Arab Emirates-based company, both controlled by Hemetti's brother Algoney Hamdan Dagalo.

War in Darfur

During the

, in 2014 and 2015, RSF "repeatedly attacked villages, burned and looted homes, beating, raping and executing villagers," aided by air and ground support from the

. The RSF executions and rapes typically took place in villages after rebels had left. The attacks were systematic enough to qualify as

according to

International civil wars

Libyan Civil War

During the

2019 Western Libya offensive The Western Libya campaign was a military campaign initiated on 4 April 2019 by the Operation Flood of Dignity ( ar, عملية طوفان الكرامة) of the Libyan National Army, which represents the Libyan House of Representatives, to capt ...

phase of the

Second Libyan Civil War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Second Libyan Civil War , partof = the Arab Winter, Libyan Crisis, Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict, War on terror, and Qatar–Saudi Arabia diplomatic conflict , image ...

, in July 2019, about 1000 RSF soldiers were present in Libya, supporting the

(LNA) commanded by

and based in

Tobruk Tobruk or Tobruck (; grc, Ἀντίπυργος, ''Antipyrgos''; la, Antipyrgus; it, Tobruch; ar, طبرق, Tubruq ''Ṭubruq''; also transliterated as ''Tobruch'' and ''Tubruk'') is a port city on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near ...

, which was fighting against the internationally recognised

Government of National Accord The Government of National Accord ( ar, حكومة الوفاق الوطني) was an interim government for Libya that was formed under the terms of the Libyan Political Agreement, a United Nations–led initiative, signed on 17 December 2015. ...

(GNA) based in Tripoli.

Yemeni Civil War

The RSF has participated in the

Yemeni Civil War (2015–present) Yemeni Civil War may refer to several historical events which have taken place in Yemen: * Alwaziri coup, February – March 1948 * Yemeni–Adenese clan violence, 1956–60 * North Yemen Civil War, 1962–70 * Aden Emergency, 1963–67 * North Yem ...

, supporting the pro- Hadi forces. Both the RSF and other Sudanese security forces, participating in the

Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen Saudi may refer to: * Saudi Arabia * Saudis, people from Saudi Arabia * Saudi culture, the culture of Saudi Arabia * House of Saud The House of Saud ( ar, آل سُعُود, ʾĀl Suʿūd ) is the ruling royal family of Saudi Arabia. It i ...

, have killed civilians and destroyed infrastructure, for which they are suspected of war crimes by

. In 2016–2017, the RSF had members participating in the Yemeni Civil War. In late October 2019, had returned to Sudan.

2018–19 Sudanese protests and human rights abuses

The RSF killed 100 protestors, injured 500, raped women and pillaged homes in the

on 3 June 2019 during the

2018–19 Sudanese protests The Sudanese Revolution was a major shift of political power in Sudan that started with street protests throughout Sudan on 19 December 2018 and continued with sustained civil disobedience for about eight months, during which the 2019 Sudan ...

. During the first day of

Eid al-Fitr , nickname = Festival of Breaking the Fast, Lesser Eid, Sweet Eid, Sugar Feast , observedby = Muslims , type = Islamic , longtype = Islamic , significance = Commemoration to mark the end of fasting in Ramadan , date ...

in Sudan, in early June 2019, there were several reports that the RSF tied bricks of cement to the bodies of dead protestors to make them sink to the bottom of the Nile and never be found. The Central Committee of Medical Doctors stated that more than 100 people had been killed. On 6 June 2019, Kumi Naidoo, the head of

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and s ...

, called for the " mmediate withdrawal ofall members of the Rapid Support Forces from policing and law enforcement anywhere in Sudan and especially in Khartoum". In addition to the killings in Khartoum, other human rights violations during the 2018-19 crisis have been attributed to the RSF, including the

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ...

of 70 male and female protesters during the Khartoum massacre and the following days; the targeting of peaceful

sit-in A sit-in or sit-down is a form of direct action that involves one or more people occupying an area for a protest, often to promote political, social, or economic change. The protestors gather conspicuously in a space or building, refusing to mo ...

s;Sudanese Rapid Support Forces Are Targeting Hospitals, Peaceful Sit-In; Dozens of Civilians Reported Killed
Physicians for Human Rights (3 June 2019). and attacks on several hospitals. The Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors reported Janjaweed/RSF shooting dead nine people in the market of the village al-Dalij (or al-Delig) in Central Darfur on 10 or 11/12 June 2019. The massacre and the burning down of the market were interpreted by locals as a response to civil disobedience.

References

External links

Official RSF Facebook
{{Use dmy dates, date=October 2021 2013 establishments in Sudan Military of Sudan Military units and formations established in 2013 Organisations of the Sudanese Revolution Paramilitary organisations based in Sudan