Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, commander of Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces, has vowed to strike any airport or aircraft—civilian or military—that launches attacks on civilians in Darfur and Kordofan, including those operating from neighboring countries.
“We’ve been silent too long,” Hemedti declared Tuesday night. “Any drone or warplane that takes off from any airport and drops bombs or kills civilians is a legitimate target—wherever it’s launched.”
His threats follow a second drone strike on Khartoum International Airport, just as authorities prepared to reopen it after two years of war-induced shutdown. Plumes of smoke and fire engulfed the airport, prompting calls from the UAE for a ceasefire and immediate civilian transition.
Hemedti blamed the Muslim Brotherhood for igniting Sudan’s war, which erupted in April 2023, and pledged to purge the country of their influence. He demanded the formation of an international investigative committee into atrocities committed since the war began. “The former regime chose bloodshed,” he said. “They must face the consequences.”
He condemned a drone strike by Sudanese Armed Forces that killed the chief of the Majaneen tribe and 17 others in Kordofan on Saturday. “This was a grave crime,” he said. “The army will pay the price.”
Although Hemedti did not name Egypt directly in his latest remarks, he accused Cairo in June of delivering eight warplanes to the SAF. “We know where two landed, and one, and five. Even the dates,” he said then. “But all that firepower vanished in minutes.” Egypt has repeatedly denied supporting Sudan’s army.
His speech came hours after drone strikes hit SAF positions and supply depots in Damazin, Sennar, Kassala, and White Nile State. Unconfirmed reports say 250 SAF recruits were killed in a strike on a Sennar training camp.
General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, army chief and de facto head of state, responded from bomb-scarred Khartoum airport, pledging to crush the RSF. “Soon no one will be able to threaten Sudan,” he said. “The rebel forces won’t break the will of our people.”
“October has always brought strength to the Sudanese,” he added. “Every attack will rebound on its aggressors.”
The army retook Khartoum in May after expelling RSF fighters, allowing over 800,000 displaced civilians to return.
The war between Al-Burhan’s SAF and Hemedti’s RSF has displaced more than 12 million people and killed tens of thousands. The UN describes it as “the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.”
The UN Human Rights Office reported a sharp rise in civilian deaths in early 2025, 3,384 people killed between January and June, mostly in Darfur. That accounts for nearly 80% of Sudan’s total civilian death toll last year.
Last October, a UN fact-finding mission found the RSF responsible for “staggering levels” of sexual violence, including gang rape and sexual slavery, during its offensives in contested zones.
A Human Rights Watch report also accused the RSF and allied militias of committing war crimes in South Kordofan between December 2023 and March 2024, documenting rape, murder, abduction, looting, and destruction of civilian homes.
The watchdog urged the UN and African Union to launch an international monitoring mission to document abuses and protect civilians.
Fighting has now centered on El-Fasher, the army’s last major foothold in Darfur, which the RSF aims to transform into the capital of its self-declared parallel government.
Last month, a drone strike in El-Fasher killed at least 75 people. Local officials blamed the RSF.
Activist networks say “massacres are imminent” if the city falls. El-Fasher’s Resistance Committees accuse the central government of abandoning the region. “Civilians are facing death at every corner,” they declare.
