AFRICA/SUDAN - RSF militiamen are consolidating positions on the Central African border

Khartoum (Agenzia Fides) - As fighting continues in the Sudanese capital Khartoum (see Fides, 12/6/2023), in Darfur, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militiamen, led by Mohamad Hamdan Dagalo (known as "Hemedti") consolidate their control of the border with the Central African Republic.
The RSF have announced that they have taken control of Um Dafog, a small town on the border between Sudan and the Central African Republic, and have captured 125 soldiers of the SAF (the regular army), who are said to have surrendered without a fight.
The capture of Um Dafog is not particularly surprising given the
RSF's political and military dominance in South Darfur and neighboring eastern Central African Republic, where it controls the gold mining industry, which is its main source of funding.
The conflict between the Sudanese army led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane and the RSF led by "Hemedti" seems increasingly focused on taking control of the opponent's resources and/or defending one's own. By securing control of the border with Central Africa, the RSF is strengthening ties with its bases in that country and, most importantly, protecting the supply and export corridors of Sudan's gold mines (although the RSF is also said to control Central African gold mines). At the same time, in the capital, the RSF are besieging the army's ammunition factory in Yarmouk (see Fides, 12/6/2023).
Meanwhile, in North Darfur, a total of 53 families have been affected by the fighting in the town of Kutum, which was also targeted by the RSF, according to the El Fasher Resistance Committee Coordination Office. A total of 63 displaced people arrived in Naivasha on foot, including children, women and the elderly in need of psychological support, medical care, food and safe shelter. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides, 13/6/2023)

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