Sudan formed RSF in 2013 to counter rebels
The Rapid Support Forces were created from informal militias to combat Darfur insurgents and bolster the government.
Sudan officially formed the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in 2013, attaching them to the National Intelligence and Security Service. This move followed the successful but damaging counterinsurgency campaign in Darfur that began in 2003, which saw the government mobilise Darfurian Arabs, including RSF leader Mohammad Hamdan Dagalo, against non-Arab rebel groups. The RSF's creation was partly a strategy to prevent coups, as President Al-Basheer feared a strong army.
The RSF grew from informal militias that were deployed outside Darfur after the initial conflict. The government admired the model despite ethical and reputational costs, including an International Criminal Court arrest warrant in March 2009 for Al-Basheer. The RSF's formalisation aimed to provide an official identity and a tool to secure the regime, leading to internal tensions with the Sudanese Armed Forces.
This institutionalisation occurred between 2013 and 2014, a period when Sudan faced international sanctions hindering poverty alleviation efforts. Simultaneously, Europe was grappling with a migration crisis, leading to the establishment of the EU-Horn of Africa Migration Route Initiative, known as the Khartoum Process, in November 2014.
Why it mattersThe formation of the RSF directly impacts Sudanese citizens through its role in the ongoing war and its origins in internal conflict.