Sudan’s paramilitary RSF falters amid tactical blunders and supply shortfalls

Sudan's Army gains ground on RSF due to strategic blunders, internal rifts, and dwindling supplies, reversing the tide of war.

Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are losing ground to the Army due to strategic blunders, internal rifts, and dwindling supplies, analysts say.

The Army has made major gains, seeming to reverse the tide of a nearly two-year war that has killed tens of thousands of people and uprooted more than 12 million.

Last month, the Army surged through central Sudan, reclaiming the Al-Jazira State capital of Wad Madani before setting its sights on Khartoum.

Within two weeks, it shattered RSF sieges on key Khartoum military bases, including the General Command headquarters, and overran the Al-Jaili oil refinery, the country’s biggest, just north of the capital.

Cameron Hudson, a senior fellow at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies’s Africa programme, said while “the RSF outperformed at the start of the war because it was more prepared”, its weaknesses were now showing.

After nearly two years of fighting, the RSF’s supplies have dwindled and its recruitment efforts have faltered.

Many of its members lack formal military training, making them increasingly vulnerable in prolonged combat, Mr. Hudson said.