A senior commander in Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) announced on Tuesday that he had defected to the Sudanese army, ending approximately 13 years of service with the group, local media reported.
Lt. Gen. Khalid Nour al-Daim Bireish, a former Sudanese army officer, declared his allegiance to the military after holding senior administrative, security and operational positions within the RSF, according to the local news outlet Sudanese Echo.
Bireish joined the RSF in 2013 as part of a group of professional army officers recruited to help establish the paramilitary organisation’s administrative and military structures.
His departure marks the latest in a series of defections by senior RSF commanders amid the group’s continuing fighting with the Sudanese army.
There was no immediate comment from the RSF on the reported defection.
On Nov. 2, the Sudanese army announced that a group of RSF members had defected and surrendered to its 4th Infantry Division in Damazin, the capital of southeastern Blue Nile state.
The army said the group included a commander who provided information about RSF military operations in the area.
On Oct. 8, RSF Special Tasks Group commander Lt. Col. Mohammed Azraq al-Fanjari announced his defection along with 300 officers and soldiers and 30 combat vehicles.
