Sudan’s RSF Commander Defects, Exposes Cross-Border Troop Movements to Blue Nile
Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) were dealt a new blow, with the defection of Dhaifallah Adam – a prominent field commander in the Blue Nile axis, reported Al-Arabiya.
Dhaifallah Adam served as second-in-command of the Fourth Group of the RSF in the Blue Nile region. He cited “racism and the lack of a cause and a purpose for the war” as the main reasons behind his defection.
The former RSF commander apologized to the Sudanese people for the abuses and violations committed by the paramilitary group, calling on all fighters to join the Sudanese army.
The Chadian-Ethiopian Connection
Speaking to Al-Arabiya on Wednesday, Dhaifallah Adam revealed regional supply lines to the Blue Nile state. He said that RSF fighters were airlifted from the city of Nyala to Amdjarass airport in Chad, and then flown by civilian aircraft to Asosa, Ethiopia.
From there, they were transported by buses to the Yabus area, where they were armed and provided with combat equipment in preparation for deployment to the Blue Nile region to launch attacks.
Furthermore, he said that the RSF receives unlimited support from Chad and Ethiopia, including combat vehicles, ammunition, food supplies and medical care, adding that South Sudan provides medical services for wounded RSF fighters.
He also noted that the forces involved in the attack on the city of Kurmuk received aerial support from drones launched from Ethiopia’s Asosa airport, which carried out preemptive strikes to support the assault on army positions before they were shot down.
The defecting commander’s remarks align with accusations by the Sudanese government of Ethiopia‘s involvement in the conflict.
Following a drone attack on Khartoum International Airport in March 2026, SAF Spokesperson Brigadier General Asim Awad Abdelwahab Mohamed cited “documented evidence” indicating the involvement of the UAE and Ethiopia in hostile actions against Sudan.
He pointed to several attacks in the same month launched from Bahir Dar Airport inside Ethiopian territory against the states of White Nile, Blue Nile, and North and South Kordofan.
Defections Hit RSF
As the first high-ranking RSF field commander in the Blue Nile axis to defect, Dhaifallah Adam’s departure adds to a series of setbacks hitting the RSF. Senior political advisor to the RSF leader Fares Al-Nour Ibrahim announced his defection last week.
Earlier, RSF’s field commander Brig. Ali Rizqallah, widely known as Savannah, defected to the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF).
Other senior military commanders also switched sides, including Major General Al-Nour Ahmed Adam, also known as Al-Nour Al-Qubba, who announced his alignment with the Sudanese army, field commander Bishara Al-Huwaira, who defected in North Kordofan, and commander of the Sudan Shield Forces Abu Aqla Keikel, who left the group in late 2024.
The war in Sudan broke out in April 2023 between the SAF and the RSF, triggering what the UN called “the world’s largest humanitarian and displacement crisis.”
So far, the conflict has killed at least 59,000 people and left around 11,000 missing. It has also displaced 14 million people in Sudan and neighboring countries.
