NYALA – The commander of Sudanese paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo was sworn in as the head of a parallel government west of the country, on Sunday.
The Sudanese Founding Alliance, a coalition led by the RSF, said in a statement Dagalo took the oath of office in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur State in western Sudan. Abdelaziz Adam al-Hilu also took oath as Dagalo’s deputy, along with members of a 13-seat presidential council.
The swearing in follows the announcement of the RSF-led coalition government on July 26, which prompted widespread international condemnation.
In February, the RSF and several allied groups signed a political charter in Kenya to establish a parallel government in Sudan, a move denounced by Khartoum.
On Aug. 14, the UN Security Council rejected the formation of a parallel governing authority in RSF-held areas as a violation of Sudan’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity.
The Sudanese army and RSF have been fighting a war since April 2023 that has killed more than 20,000 victims and displaced 14 million, according to the UN and local authorities. Research from US universities, however, estimates the death toll at around 130,000.
19 killed in RSF, SAF attacks in Darfur
Also on Sunday, August 31, a war monitoring group told French news agency AFP that a Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) drone strike on a clinic in the city of Nyala had killed at least 12 people.
Their report came after a medical source said Sunday that shelling by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) force had killed at least seven people and wounded 71 others in the besieged city of El-Fasher.
The army strike hit the Yashfeen clinic in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur, at around midday Saturday, a source from the Emergency Lawyers group told AFP.
Speaking on condition of anonymity for safety reasons, the source said they expected the death toll to rise, as preliminary reports had indicated that dozens of civilians and medical staff may have been killed.