Sudan's paramilitary leader concedes loss of town but vows to come back soon

Port Sudan, Sudan (PANA) - The leader of Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has played down loss of a major town in the centre of the country to the rival Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), saying his forces lost a battle, not the war

Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, known as known as Hemedti, the commander and founder of the RSF, has for the first time commented on the loss by his forces of Madani town, some 200 kms south of the national capital, Khartoum, on Saturday, saying in war there is “attack and retreat".

He said he was also “sorry the people are not aware of their own interests” in an apparent reference to the widespread joy and jubilation that swept the country following the SAF entering the town. People have hastily started returning to the town and to adjacent areas.

Sudan’s military leader, Lt Gen Abdul Fatah Al Burhan, currently on an African tour that has taken him to Mali and Guinea Bissau and which will take him to Burkina Faso and Niger, has vowed in a statement in his X account that the government is determined to sweep away all the remnants of the rebels.

“The Sudanese Armed Forces pledge to its people to reclaim and purify every inch that was defiled by the Al-Daglo militia and its mercenaries.” Burhan underlined.

He commended his forces and fighters of the former Darfur armed movements as well as other groups who fought alongside the SAF, saying the final victory and  conquest were near.

But the RSF leader, Daglo, was adamant that this was not the end saying that “we fought them for twenty one months and we are ready to fight them for twenty one years to come”.

He blamed foreign forces for being behind SAF's victory and vowed to “come up with a remedy for this situation and the balance will tilt in our favour”.

Daglo alleged that the SAF was now using Iranian-made drones and other planes in attacking infantry units. 

“No man anywhere could stand in the face of Sukhoi, Antonov, and drones. No man anywhere. But we will find a remedy for this situation,” he said.

The city was seized by the RSF in December 2023, subjecting civilians there to brutal treatment, especially after the defection of a regional RSF leader, Kaikal to the SAF. The US has accused the RSF of genocide in the war.

-0- PANA MO/MA 12Jan2025