Rapid Support announces control of Nyala

Abdel Rahim Dagalo, deputy commander of the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan, announced that his forces took control of Nyala, the capital of South Darfur state, and formed a civil and military administration to manage it. He called on those who were displaced from it to return to their homes and pledged to protect them.

The Rapid Support Forces broadcast video clips on their page on the X platform, which they said were from inside the headquarters of the “16th Infantry Division” in Nyala.

Local sources and eyewitnesses from Nyala said that the Rapid Support Forces took control of the city on Friday, and the army bombed the Rapid Support positions via air in a pre-emptive attack on Wednesday, but the battles between the two sides intensified on Thursday, and the Rapid Support was able to enter the eastern part under the command of the “16th Infantry Division.”

Battles took place, as a result of which the army withdrew from the division command and the city in the evening, while on Friday, military aircraft bombed the positions of the Rapid Support Forces.

The Sudanese army`s response

There was no comment from the army on the situation in Nyala, but a military official in the Ministry of Defense said that the army forces withdrew in an organized manner from their command headquarters in central Nyala outside the city, with their heavy and light weapons, after they remained besieged for several days during which they ran out of ammunition, supplies and treatment.

He revealed that Nyala was attacked by the Rapid Support Forces with more than 400 combat vehicles, stressing that the thousands of forces that attacked the city were mercenaries from the countries of Chad, Central Africa, South Sudan and Niger, and they have proof of that, noting that the aspects of the war are “attack, advance, defense and withdrawal.”

Nyala is considered the second largest city in the country after the capital, Khartoum, in terms of population and economic weight, and it is the first to head a military division in the Darfur region controlled by the Rapid Support Forces.

The command of the 16th Infantry Division is considered the headquarters of the Western Region Command of the Sudanese Army in the Darfur region, where there are a number of battalions, including artillery, engineers, and armored forces.

The state of South Darfur is important for its strategic location and its proximity to the states of South Sudan, Central Africa, and Chad.