RSF retaliatory attacks in eastern Gezira following commander’s defection to military | Diplomatic source: Ambassador to UAE dismissed

The once-calm region of eastern Gezira State has transformed into one of the most active battlegrounds in Sudan. The escalation follows a pattern of tribal and retaliatory violence, sparked just three days after the commander of the Rapid Support Forces in Gezira defected to the Sudanese military.

Factions loyal to RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo responded to Abu Agla Keikel’s defection with ethnically motivated attacks on villages and areas in eastern Gezira, where Keikel is from. While clashes are ongoing, the RSF claimed in a Tuesday Telegram statement that they recaptured Tambul after the Sudanese military had taken it earlier in the day.

On the political front, tensions between Sudan and the United Arab Emirates resurfaced with a new twist, after Sudan’s ambassador to Abu Dhabi defied a summons from the Sudanese Foreign Ministry to return to Port Sudan. The ministry responded by reassigning his duties to the acting ambassador and dismissing him, according to a Foreign Ministry source who spoke to Mada Masr. A source at the Sudanese embassy in the UAE said that Ambassador Abdel Rahman Sharafi had given no explanation for his refusal to comply, noting instead that he was focused on manufacturing closer relations with Abu Dhabi under the pretense of strengthening ties between the two nations.

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RSF retaliatory campaigns in eastern Gezira following Keikel’s defection

The fighting in Gezira State has escalated to the brink of civil conflict just three days after RSF commander in the state Abu Agla Keikel defected to the military. Other factions loyal to RSF leader Hemedti launched retaliatory attacks on areas in eastern Gezira, Keikal’s home region.

Tambul in eastern Gezira has seen control alternate between the military and the RSF amid intense fighting. The chief of the Shukriya tribes in Kassala and Gadarif states, Ahmed Mohamed Hamad Abu Sen, called on his followers to immediately mobilize and support their kin in eastern Gezira. He urged them to stand with the Sudanese Armed Forces “to repel the brutal aggression and defend our people in Refaa and Tambul.”

Youssef Abu Sen, a fighter in the ranks the military forces stationed near Tambul, told Mada Masr that the military, alongside Keikel’s Sudan Shield Forces and mobilized fighters from the Butana plain garrison, defeated the RSF in a battle that lasted from 6 pm Monday to 5:30 am Tuesday. 

With the support of air and artillery units, the military and its allied forces entered and secured Tambul's market and destroyed RSF strongholds in the market and in eastern and southern areas.

According to Abu Sen, the RSF had prepared for the battle by amassing 82 combat vehicles from Bashagra, Khartoum’s East Nile and Madina Arab, all of which were destroyed in battle. Pursuit operations are ongoing as remnants of the RSF retreat toward the Edd al-Khedr barricades, 7 km south of Tambul.

However, on Tuesday, the RSF gained the upper hand over the course of the day. 

A military source told Mada Masr that Brigadier General Ahmed Shaeddin al-Mansour, the military commander of the Rawa camp in the Butana area, was killed in fighting in Tambul that lasted for hours on Tuesday, adding that the RSF surrounded the military forces, forcing them to disperse and subsequently withdraw from the city with the Popular Support Forces. The source also confirmed that Keikal’s forces fought alongside the military ranks in this battle for the first time after their defection.

A local source confirmed to Mada Masr that the popular support forces withdrew outside Tambul after a larger RSF deployment arrived from east of the Nile in Khartoum and Gezira. In fear of revenge campaigns carried out by the RSF, which have already begun looting shops and homes in the city, thousands of its residents fled. 

RSF spokesperson Al-Fateh Qarashi released a statement saying that their forces were able to inflict a severe defeat on the military, killing as many as 370 soldiers, including the commander of the force with the rank of brigadier general. The statement claimed that the RSF seized more than 60 combat vehicles with full equipment and destroyed large numbers of others, in addition to seizing various weapons and quantities of ammunition.

While the battle played out in Tambul, the RSF has been conducting what several sources described to Mada Masr as a “retaliatory campaign” in response to Keikal’s defection.

A military source, a market trader and a local resident told Mada Masr that RSF forces raided villages in eastern Gezira, leaving dozens killed or wounded. Refaa’s resistance committees also reported the attacks. 

The military source told Mada Masr that since Sunday evening , RSF forces have been targeting towns and villages in eastern Gezira, including Gneid al-Hilla, Aziba, Aak and Baidaa, where over ten civilians were killed, including the director of a kidney dialysis center.

In Dindar in Sennar State, another RSF faction also surrendered to the military. The city is now under military siege. Singa, the capital of Sennar, is also under siege, while the military continues its advance toward Wad Madani, the capital of Gezira State.

Further weakening the RSF after Keikel’s defection, part of the forces previously commanded by Abdel Rahman al-Bishi, the RSF commander in Sennar State and the Blue Nile region who was killed in an airstrike by the military in July, also surrendered, according to a field source in Sennar who spoke to Mada Masr. 

The source added that Bishi’s forces now split into three groups. The first is led by Bishi’s cousins, the second joined Keikel’s forces, while the third fell under the command of local field leaders who control certain areas in Gezira.

The source said that more than eight villages in eastern Gezira have been subjected to violations in attacks carried out by some RSF forces from the third group. 

A local source in Tambul added that a group of these forces, led by RSF commander Ahmed Adam “Gogga,” besieged and attacked the city.

Sudanese Ambassador in UAE defies Sudanese Foreign Ministry summons

A source from the Sudanese Foreign Ministry told Mada Masr that the Sudanese ambassador to the UAE Abdel Rahman Sharafi ignored a summons issued by the ministry on October 15. The letter, sent by the ministry’s undersecretary, called for Sharafi to return to Port Sudan. The ambassador did not respond, prompting the undersecretary to issue a follow-up letter on October 19, warning that the ambassador's allocations would be withheld at the prime minister's office unless he complied. 

Sharafi served in several Sudanese embassies, including in Venezuela, from which he was transferred to Canada. According to the source, he caused a scandal within the Sudanese Foreign Ministry when he left Caracas for Canada without notice. He was reinstated during the transitional period after being dismissed under the ousted regime.

A diplomatic source speaking to Mada Masr criticized Sharafi's behavior, saying that it is not reflective of the ethics of professional diplomacy, noting that he could have followed a set of established professional procedures. 

According to another diplomatic source, this marks the second such defiance from a Sudanese ambassador in the UAE , following Mohamed al-Kareb, who, in October 2021, following the coup against Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok's government, refused to comply with the foreign ministry's orders. Kareb also declined to return to Khartoum or respond to the ministry’s summons.

The source added that the ministry plans to assign an acting ambassador to the UAE and dismiss Sharafi for violating administrative regulations. 

Mada Masr contacted Sharafi for comment, but, as of the time of writing, he did not respond. 

A source at the Sudanese embassy told Mada Masr that Sharafi provided no justification for his refusal to comply with the ministry's orders. The source said that Sharafi's stance stems from his disagreement with the Foreign Ministry’s escalatory measures against the UAE, adding that he is leading an attempt at manufacturing a popular rapprochement between Sudanese citizens in the UAE and the Emirati government.