# Top RSF Commander Defects to Sudanese Army, Calls Paramilitary a Dagalo Family Project

*Friday, October 30, 2026 at 8:06 PM UTC — Hamer Intelligence Services Desk*

**Published**: 2026-10-30T20:06:13.126Z (3h ago)
**Category**: conflict | **Region**: Africa
**Importance**: 8/10
**Sources**: OSINT
**Permalink**: https://hamerintel.com/data/articles/22013.md
**Source**: https://hamerintel.com/summaries

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**Deck**: Maj. Gen. Sadiq Abdel Rahman Ander, a senior Rapid Support Forces commander who led the 15th Group and oversaw recruitment, has joined the Sudanese Armed Forces, accusing the RSF of serving a narrow family project run by the Dagalo clan.

Sudan’s conflict has produced a significant split inside the paramilitary force that controls large parts of the country. Maj. Gen. Sadiq Abdel Rahman Ander, a senior Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commander, has defected to the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and denounced the RSF leadership.

Ander commanded the RSF’s 15th Group and was responsible for mobilisation and recruitment, a role that put him at the centre of efforts to build up the force during its fight with the army. In a video statement, he says he concluded that the RSF serves a “purely family project” run by the Dagalo family of RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo. He says Hemedti controls the group’s money, weapons and fighters.

For civilians living in contested cities or on displacement routes, a break of this level raises concerns about fragmentation inside already numerous armed formations. If a commander closely involved in recruitment switches sides, some of the fighters he helped bring in may follow, others may stay with the RSF, and some may drift toward local militias. That can weaken formal chains of command and fuel lawlessness in areas already struggling with shortages and insecurity.

Operationally, Ander’s move deprives the RSF of an organiser who understands its mobilisation networks and internal dynamics, while providing the army with insight into RSF logistics and loyalties. SAF commanders will be keen to learn which units are tightly bound to Hemedti and which rely more on pay, local ties or fear than on ideological commitment.

Politically, Ander’s accusation that the RSF is a family vehicle undermines efforts by its leaders to present it as a national or community‑based movement. If that perception spreads among other commanders, it could slow fresh recruitment and encourage more private contacts with the SAF or with local authorities seeking exit ramps from the fighting.

The defection also hints at strain within the RSF after a long, costly campaign. A force that expanded on expectations of influence and spoils must now cope with battlefield losses, pressure over reported abuses and the challenge of keeping fighters paid and supplied. Concentrated control over money and weapons, which Ander says sits with the Dagalo family, can become a focal point for resentment under those conditions.

For regional mediators and outside governments, the episode is a reminder that the RSF is not a single, unified actor. Measures targeting Hemedti and his immediate circle may land unevenly across the group’s commanders and could create spaces for local deals if some see their interests diverging from the core leadership.

The most telling developments to watch will be any verifiable shifts involving the RSF’s 15th Group or associated units, signs of further defections or purges, and Ander’s appearance in SAF media or alongside SAF units in the field. Changes in RSF rhetoric about leadership and decision‑making would also show how seriously Hemedti takes this public challenge from a former insider.