Date: Thursday, 19 September 2024
Two field commanders of Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) were killed on Thursday in a failed attempt to seize El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur State. The RSF's offensive, part of its ongoing campaign to capture the city, was repelled by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and local allies from the Joint Forces after hours of fierce fighting.
The RSF has repeatedly tried to overrun El Fasher, suffering heavy losses in the process. In June, RSF Central Darfur commander Maj-Gen. Ali Yagoub, who had been sanctioned by the U.S., was killed in a similar attempt. These failures underscore the difficulties the RSF has encountered in its battles against the Joint force, which employs similar combat tactics.
The latest casualties include commanders Abdulrahman “Girn Shatta” (below left), and Major Abu Al-Qasim Ali Musa (below right), who were killed in the Hai El Sallam neighborhood southeast of El Fasher. According to local sources, the RSF launched their attack from both the south and east. The Joint Force of Armed Struggle Movements (JSAMF), a coalition of former Darfur rebel groups led by the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and the Sudan Liberation Army-Minni Minnawi (SLA-MM), confirmed the offensive in a statement.
Girn Shatta, a prominent figure in the RSF’s media operations, played a key role in shaping the group’s public image. He was one of a cast of combatant-influencers who regularly broadcast from the field and was often at the scene of key battles.
El Fasher remains a strategic target for the RSF, as it houses the headquarters of the SAF's 6th Infantry Division and is the last SAF bastion in Darfur. While the RSF controls the other four Darfur state capitals, it has so far been unable to capture El Fasher, despite repeated attacks since April.
Witnesses reported intense fighting, with RSF forces attempting to overrun SAF positions and those held by their local allies. In a statement following the attack, Major Ahmed Hussein Mustafa, spokesperson for the Joint Force, detailed how the RSF launched the assault around 11:00 AM from the southern and eastern fronts of the city, with fighting continuing until 4:00 PM.
“This failed attack is the 133rd of its kind, and our forces managed to quash it completely. More than 80 mercenaries, including soldiers and officers of the Janjaweed militia, were killed, among them the two militia commanders: Brigadier General Abdulrahman (Girn Shatta) and Major Abu Al-Qasim Ali Musa, with dozens of others wounded. Additionally, over 20 military vehicles were destroyed, and our forces seized control of 10 intact military vehicles.”
The SAF also confirmed the attack in a separate statement, describing it as a “terrorist attack” by the RSF.
“The Sudanese Armed Forces, along with joint forces and volunteers, successfully repelled a suicide attack by the terrorist Rapid Support Militia (Janjaweed), destroying dozens of vehicles, seizing combat vehicles, and killing dozens, including a significant number of mercenary leaders. They pursued the fleeing remnants, reaffirming the resilience of El Fasher’s army and people against the foreign aggression orchestrated by the UAE," the SAF statement read.
Omar Jibril, a prominent RSF propagandist, confirmed Shatta’s death. Jibril, based primarily in Khartoum, has been a key player in the RSF's media campaign. In July, he was wounded during an attempted assault on SAF forces in the Shajara neighborhood, home to the SAF Armored Corps.
“Abdul Rahman [Girn Shatta] is the fruit of Paradise and its fragrance. Enter him through the gate of the righteous and the martyrs. Draw near, O Abdul Rahman, to the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, and say to him: ‘I am the leader of the martyrs of whom you told your companions... I am the man who rose up against a tyrannical and unjust ruler.’ O Allah, have mercy upon Your servant, Abdul Rahman (Qirn Shatta),” Jibril wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Just hours before his death, Shatta had tweeted, “Do you know where palm trees grow?” This was seen as a veiled reference to an impending attack on northern Sudanese regions such as River Nile and Northern States, areas known for their extensive palm tree groves. "We are close to eating Barakawi, Tamuda, Hasib, Safouri, and Abu Ras dates," he added.
Videos posted by combatants in El Fasher on Thursday show fighting concentrated around Hai Salam, in the southeast of the city. In the video below, for example, SAF soldiers and allies from the joint forces are seen firing southward from coordinates 13.600270, 25.355123 south of Salam Stadium.
Farther to the northeast, RSF pushed fairly deep into the city, fighting their way down residential streets, such as the one in the video at the top of this article, which we geolocated to 13.613649, 25.362611. They reached as far as the El Fasher South Hospital, which medical staff had abandoned in June.
Reports differ as to whether they subsequently withdrew, with SAF sources claiming they recaptured the hospital. However, video posted to RSF accounts on Friday (below) suggested that RSF forces were still present near the hospital. If so, this would mean that the RSF gained ground in the latest fighting, notwithstanding SAF claims to have defeated the offensive.
Satellite images show that a turreted armored vehicle was stationed at the South Hospital in recent days, which means that it likely was a SAF outpost prior to the RSF takeover on Thursday.
In a new report yesterday, the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab stated,
“Analysis of satellite imagery collected between 03 and 13 September 2024, shows damage to the roof of a structure at the South Hospital with a turreted armored fighting vehicle present. Additionally, a munitions impact is observed outside the northeast corner of the hospital perimeter wall.”
The research group further identified areas of damage in El Fasher, which it attributed to aerial bombardment by SAF against RSF positions, SAF artillery bombardment, RSF bombardment, and other combat activity. On the map above, the southern cluster of dots represents the general area where the latest ground fighting took place, whereas there was no ground fighting in the mostly blue cluster in the east, as far as we know.
The Yale Humanitarian Laboratory warned that continued fighting could “reduce what is left of El-Fasher to rubble.”
This is not the first time the RSF has infiltrated the city. Although Thursday’s fighting was concentrated in southern parts of El Fasher, the RSF have previously attacked elsewhere too, reaching as far as the outskirts of the 6th Division headquarters. Additionally, the RSF have shelled the city indiscriminately, killing many civilians.
These attacks violate UN Security Council Resolution 2736, which in June demanded that the RSF halt the siege of El Fasher and urged de-escalation. Instead, the RSF has repeatedly attacked El Fasher and continued to block supplies from entering the city.
