Sudanese Paramilitary Leader ‘Hemedti’ Dagalo Appears on African Tour

Sudanese paramilitary leader General Mohamed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo, who has not been seen in public since the brutal civil war erupted in Sudan in April 2023, has appeared in recent days with leaders of several African countries in what has been described as a campaign to present himself as Sudan’s leader, according to news reports.

Dagalo, head of the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary, emerged for the first time in more than eight months when he met with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni at Museveni’s country home in Uganda last week, the reports said. Dagalo reportedly was also received by leaders in Djibouti and Ghana, and on Monday, he met with Ethiopian politicians in Addis Ababa.

Since last April, Dagalo’s RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces, headed by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, have been fighting a fierce war that has killed about 10,000 people, displaced some 5.8 million internally, and sent 1.5 million more fleeing the country. The RSF has taken control of much of central and western Sudan.

Analysts said that Dagalo’s African meetings suggest that he is framing the RSF as the legitimate governing force for Sudan, with himself as leader.

Al-Burhan described the meetings as “acts of hostility.”

The two forces turned on each other after together ousting Sudan’s previous government in 2021 and ending the country’s transition to democracy. Both forces have been accused of war crimes in the current war.