Militia leader Hemeti claims that soldiers rob, abduct in Darfur

Militia commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo has publicly criticised the police and the army because of the way they deal with arrested criminals and criminality in Darfur. He smashed the army's inaction in deterring its affiliates, “who participate in robberies and abductions”.

On Monday, during a celebration in Nyala city, Daglo (nicknamed 'Hemeti') said that “the majority that commits robberies and killings are soldiers belonging to the Sudan Armed Forces, whether they joined through the gate of the Border Guards or security arrangements, in full knowledge of the police and the army – especially the military intelligence”.

Radio Dabanga and a Washington-based activist group has reported that former Border Guards commander Hemeti recruited large numbers of young Darfuris in September and October 2013, against the backdrop of Sudanese government officials announcement of a “decisive dry season campaign against all rebel forces in Sudan”. The about 6,000 recruits were trained as paramilitary troops, named Rapid Support Forces (RSF), in camps near Khartoum. They were sent to fight in South Kordofan, along with the Sudanese army. From the end of 2013 onwards, after widespread assaults against citizens in El Obeid and surrounding villages, the RSF were expelled from North Kordofan in February 2014 and re-stationed in Darfur “to fight rebel groups”. Thousands of people were displaced following the paramilitary attacks on villages in South Darfur.