A senior commander for the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has been killed during a battle around El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur State, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) said Friday.
Ali Yagoub Gibril, who was under U.S. sanctions, was killed during fierce fighting between his forces and the joint forces south of the city.
Gibril was a leading commander for the RSF in Central Darfur Sector. He has been trying to seize El Fasher city since May 10.
“The armed forces and the joint force thwarted an attack by the RSF militia, inflicting heavy losses on them represented in hundreds of deaths and injuries, including their criminal commander, Ali Yaqoub, who was killed in the failed attack attempt,” the SAF said in a statement.
Social media platforms affiliated with the Sudanese army shared videos showing Gibril’s body surrounded by soldiers of joint forces.
According to the statement, the Sudanese army also destroyed and seized dozens of combat vehicles from the RSF forces.
Mini Minawi, governor of the Darfur region, wrote a post on X (formerly Twitter): “Farewell, commander of the El Fasher inferno.”
There was no immediate comment from the RSF.
War erupted in Sudan in April last year between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Al-Fashir is the last major city in the western Darfur region not under control of the RSF.
Senior UN officials warned that some 800,000 people in El-Fasher were in “extreme and immediate danger” due to violence. On Thursday, the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution demanding that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) halt its siege of El-Fasher.