Yasir al-Atta, a member of the Sudanese Sovereign Council and assistant to the army chief, stated that 25% of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are from Libya under the command of Khalifa Haftar, alongside mercenaries from Chad, some Ethiopians, Colombians, Central Africans, remnants of Wagner, and fighters from Syria. He added that 65% of the remaining force consists of South Sudanese, unfortunately, while only 5% are original Janjaweed leaders of certain groups. Al-Atta, speaking from the town of Bawt in the Blue Nile state, mentioned that they had discussed this issue with South Sudanese officials during two years of war, but no action was taken, even at the media level, to criminalize such activities. He added that it could have been publicly stated that South Sudan was waging war against them.
The leader of the Sudan Liberation Army, Mini Arko Minawi, also confirmed that foreign support continues through the Libya axis, with new reinforcements of 400 military vehicles entering Darfur from Libya. Previous reports indicated that the Tariq Bin Ziyad battalion, loyal to Haftar, recently headed towards “Matin al-Sara” to secure the area and protect routes leading to Sudan, including arms and fuel supplies originating from the port of Tobruk. Last year, Yassir al-Atta, a member of the Sudanese Sovereign Council and assistant army chief, criticized the Libyan authorities in Benghazi and Haftar’s forces for supporting the RSF, led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, “Hemedti,” through African airports. He warned these institutions of the consequences of what he called “tampering,” adding that Sudanese intelligence agencies would “repay in kind.”
Last week, the Italian news agency “Nova” reported that Russia is working to expand its influence in Libya by moving men and equipment to the “Matin al-Sara” base on the border with Chad and Sudan. According to sources in Libya, the base’s location is strategic and was used during the Libyan-Chadian war in the 1980s. It is now at the center of a major Russian operation to strengthen control over the Sahel region, which has become increasingly central to Moscow’s geopolitical interests. The report clarified that at the end of last year, Russia sent a group of Syrian soldiers, who had fled from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, to re-operationalize the base. The aim is to convert it into a strategic point for military operations in Africa, with supplies being directly routed to Mali, Burkina Faso, and possibly Sudan.
Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal revealed military support provided by regional parties to the opposing sides in Sudan’s ongoing conflict. According to the paper, sources reported that the Libyan rebel leader Khalifa Haftar sent at least one plane from Libya to Sudan on April 17, carrying ammunition and military supplies to the RSF. The paper also highlighted statements from the Sudanese army on the same day, confirming that Hemedti was mustering a large force at an airbase to secure the landing of a military aid plane from regional sources. Hemedti had previously supported Haftar by sending fighters to assist him after a failed attempt to capture the Libyan capital, Tripoli, from the internationally recognized government in 2019.
