Senior RSF Commander Defects to Sudanese Army

A senior paramilitary commander in Sudan defected from the Rapid Support Forces to the Sudanese army, a move hailed by army chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan as the country's civil war marked its fourth year.

Burhan, who chairs the ruling sovereign council, met with Maj. Gen. al-Nour Ahmed Adam, known as al-Qubba, on Sunday in Sudan's Northern Province along the border with Egypt. A video of the encounter, posted on social media by the sovereign council, showed the two men greeting each other amid the ongoing conflict. "Doors are open to all those who lay down arms and join the path of national reconstruction," Burhan said in a statement.

Adam, one of the highest-ranking officers to switch sides during the war, fled the RSF-controlled Darfur region earlier this month. He joined the army along with dozens of fighters and military equipment, local media reported. According to the Sudan Tribune, the defection stemmed from disagreements with RSF leadership, particularly their refusal to appoint him as military commander of North Darfur Province following the paramilitary group's capture of el-Fasher city in October. El-Fasher had been the army's final major holdout in the Darfur region.