Sudan war: UAE denies supporting RSF and Colombian recruits
When Sudan's military leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan welcomed Al-Nour Ahmed Adam — also known as Al-Nour Al-Qubba and a former senior commander of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia — into the ranks of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) earlier this year, it was one of the most h
When Sudan's military leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan welcomed Al-Nour Ahmed Adam — also known as Al-Nour Al-Qubba and a former senior commander of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia — into the ranks of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) earlier this year, it was one of the most high-profile defections in the Sudanese civil war to date.
While the SAF controls the capital Khartoum, Port Sudan and large parts of the east and center of the country, its rival RSF holds vast areas in the west of the country, particularly in Darfur, including the city of El Fasher.
Al-Nour Al-Qubba is not the only defector: He was followed a few weeks later by high-ranking RSF commander, Ali Rizq Allah, also known as Al-Savannah.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has reviewed videos purportedly showing these two defectors during the siege of El Fasher, where the international NGO has documented war crimes committed by the RSF , led by General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, commonly known as Hemedti, during the city's capture in October 2025.
Since the war began in 2023 , Abdel Fattah al-Burhan has been trying to recruit defectors from the RSF into the SAF. Almost from the beginning, he declared a general amnesty for members of the militia if they laid down their arms, saying they could be integrated into the military. Human Rights Watch says it was unable to verify whether this also applied to the most recent defectors.
For Mohamed Osman, a Sudan researcher at Human Rights Watch, there must not be impunity. "Those responsible for serious international crimes and human rights violations do not get a free pass if they switch sides," he said, adding that "Sudanese people who have experienced horrific abuses under any commander's watch deserve justice."
According to conflict monitors at Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), the recent defections could be a sign of increasing tension within the RSF ranks and of "cracks in the RSF's core alliances." They assume that "local loyalties are superseding central command, sparking violent intra-coalition competition over remaining war spoils."
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