The Rapid Support Forces, RSF, which is involved in clashes with the Sudanese led by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, vice-chairman of the Sudanese Transitional Sovereignty Council. He is commonly known as 'Hemedti'.

This paramilitary force, which has deployment points and headquarters throughout the country, has about 100,000 fighters.

The RSF evolved from the Janjaweed militia group used by former Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir against rebels in the Darfur region in the 2000s.

Over time, the RSF has expanded and been used as border guards, particularly to combat irregular migration.

From 2015, the RSF began sending troops to fight alongside the Sudanese army in the war in Yemen, along with those of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, strengthening Dagalo's ties with the Gulf States.

In 2017, a law was passed to legitimise the group as an independent security force.

Involvement in coups

In April 2019, the RSF participated in the military coup that removed Omar al-Bashir from power. A prominent economist Abdalla Hamdok was sworn in as Sudan‘s prime minister and leader of the transitional cabinet following the coup.

Later that year, General Dagalo signed a power-sharing agreement that made him the deputy of a military ruling council headed by army general Abdel Fattah al Burhan.

Before the deal was signed in 2019, activists accused the paramilitary group of involvement in the killing of dozens of pro-democracy protesters.

Human rights groups also accused RSF fighters of tribal violence. General Dagalu has lifted the immunity of some of his men, allowing them to be tried.

He apologised last year for the crimes committed by the state against the Sudanese people.

The RSF along with the army again participated in a coup that interrupted the transition to civilian rule with elections earlier scheduled for October 2021 which didn't hold.

Following the coup, army General al Burhan became the de facto head of state while Hamdan Daglo became his deputy.

But the head of the RSF Hamdan Dagalo has since distanced himself from the 2021 coup describing it as a ''mistake'' a statement that marked the first clearest rift with genera al Burhan.

Recent tensions with army

Under mounting international and regional pressure, the armed forces and the RSF signed a preliminary deal a in December last year with pro-democracy and civilian groups - aimed at returning the country to democracy.

But the internationally brokered agreement provided only broad outlines, leaving the thorniest political issues unsettled .

During tortuous negotiations to reach a final agreement, tensions between the army General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who is the country's de facto head of state and his deputy Hamdan Dagalo escalated.

A key dispute was over how the RSF would be integrated into the mainstream military and who would have ultimate control over fighters and weapons.

This impeded the final signing of the deal in late March and early April leading to growing tensions between the two sides culminating in the ongoing deadly clashes in what is seen as an attempt by the Rapid Support Forces to take over power.