Inside the RSF Command: Profiles of Sudan’s Most Wanted Warlords

A Southerton Business Times investigation profiles Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) leaders (image source)

As Sudan’s brutal war deepens, attention is turning to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) — a paramilitary group accused of orchestrating widespread atrocities in Darfur and beyond. Southerton Business Times examines the profiles of top RSF figures whose names dominate international investigations into war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo-Hemedti (image source)

Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti) — Commander and Public Face

Hemedti, a former camel trader turned militia leader, has become one of Sudan’s most powerful and controversial figures. As RSF commander, he presides over vast financial networks linked to gold mining, border trade, and foreign backers — resources that fuel the RSF’s independence and endurance.

Eyewitnesses and humanitarian monitors have implicated units under his command in mass killings across Darfur and El-Fasher, targeting civilians, hospital patients, and displaced populations. Analysts describe the RSF’s violence as “systematic and calculated,” suggesting command-level coordination.

Abdelrahim Dagalo (image source)

Abdelrahim Dagalo — Senior Operational Commander

Believed to be Hemedti’s close relative and top deputy, Abdelrahim Dagalo oversees RSF ground operations across western Sudan. Reports tie his forces to multiple assaults on towns and villages in Darfur, resulting in large-scale civilian casualties.

Experts describe the RSF under Abdelrahim’s watch as operating through highly personal, tribal command structures that enable regional commanders to act with autonomy and impunity. This decentralization complicates war-crimes investigations, which require proving direct links between orders, knowledge, and atrocities.

Wider RSF Command Network — Regional and Unit Leaders

Beyond the Dagalo brothers, the RSF’s power is dispersed among brigade and battalion commanders who conduct rapid, coordinated offensives. Eyewitnesses recount overnight raids in El-Fasher where fighters stormed hospitals and residential blocks, leaving widespread devastation.

Investigators, human-rights groups, and journalists have compiled extensive evidence — including satellite imagery, medical records, and video analysis — to document mass graves and targeted killings. These materials form the groundwork for future prosecutions under international law’s “command responsibility” doctrine.

The scale of RSF atrocities has triggered global condemnation and sanctions, yet accountability remains elusive due to limited access, security threats, and political protection afforded to RSF leaders. Diplomats warn that without persistent international oversight, vital evidence could be erased, perpetuating Sudan’s long-standing cycle of impunity.