What Is the RSF in Sudan? Origins, Backers and the Genocide Finding
What is the RSF in Sudan? How Hemedti’s Rapid Support Forces grew from the Janjaweed, who funds them and why the US made a genocide finding.
What is the RSF in Sudan? The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are a Sudanese paramilitary force led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti. Since April 15, 2023, the RSF has fought Sudan’s army, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), for control of the country. The U.S. government has determined that members of the RSF and allied militias committed genocide. This explainer covers where the RSF came from, who funds it and what the war has cost.
Where the RSF came from
The RSF grew out of the Janjaweed, Sudanese Arab militias that former President Omar al-Bashir armed in the early 2000s to help the army fight rebels in Darfur, according to a Congressional Research Service (CRS) brief. The United States, among others, labeled the Janjaweed’s atrocities against non-Arab communities in Darfur genocide.
Bashir later formed the RSF from the Janjaweed to counter other insurgencies. CRS says he allowed the force to seize gold mines and other assets and deployed it to Yemen with the Gulf-led coalition fighting the Houthis, which “provided revenue that bolstered the RSF’s autonomy.”
From partners to enemies
Security chiefs used the 2019 pro-democracy protests to oust Bashir. The junta that followed was led by the SAF’s Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the RSF’s Hemedti, CRS said. In 2021 the two generals seized power from the civilian-led transitional government, Sudan’s sixth coup since independence. Their rivalry erupted into open war in April 2023 under pressure to restore civilian rule and merge their forces.
The RSF seized much of the capital and Darfur in 2023. The SAF retook Khartoum in March 2025, according to CRS. The fight then centered on El Fasher, which CRS describes as home to the last SAF base in Darfur. On Oct. 30, 2025, a U.S. diplomat at the UN Security Council condemned “the horrific violence occurring in El Fasher” and said the RSF “has and continues to systematically kill men and boys.”
The genocide determination and sanctions
On Jan. 7, 2025, the State Department determined that members of the RSF and allied militias had committed genocide. The same day, the Treasury Department sanctioned Hemedti, saying the RSF had killed tens of thousands, displaced 12 million Sudanese and triggered widespread starvation. Treasury said Hemedti “bears command responsibility” as the RSF’s overall commander.
Treasury also sanctioned seven UAE-based companies and one individual. It said one, Capital Tap Holding, “has provided the RSF with money and military equipment,” and that a gold company it named bought Sudanese gold and moved it to Dubai. Earlier designations targeted Hemedti’s brothers, including Algoney Hamdan Daglo Musa, whom Treasury called the RSF’s procurement director. The SAF has faced U.S. action too. CRS notes that Washington sanctioned Burhan a week after Hemedti, citing the army’s atrocities and aid obstruction.
Who backs the RSF
CRS reports that UN sanctions monitors in 2024 named the United Arab Emirates as involved in aiding the RSF, and that U.S. officials reportedly confirmed the UAE’s use of an airport in Chad to support RSF drone operations. The UAE denies the allegations. CRS adds that in 2023 the Treasury Department identified Russia’s Wagner Group as supplying surface-to-air missiles to the RSF.
The human cost
The State Department said on April 17, 2026 that more than 150,000 people had been killed and over 14 million displaced since April 2023, with famine conditions persisting. It called on both forces to accept “an immediate three-month humanitarian truce without preconditions.”
What it means: Peter’s World analysis
The RSF’s history explains its staying power. A force built on gold revenue, foreign deployments and outside suppliers does not depend on Khartoum, so losing the capital in 2025 did not end its war. Sanctions have targeted that money trail, but the violence in El Fasher came months later. The key questions now are whether outside backers cut supplies, whether either side accepts a truce, and whether the current division of territory, with the RSF strongest in Darfur, hardens into a lasting partition.
For ongoing coverage, see the Africa news hub.
Sources
- Congressional Research Service: The War and Humanitarian Crisis in Sudan (IF12816)
- U.S. Treasury: Treasury Sanctions Sudanese Paramilitary Leader, Weapons Supplier, and Related Companies (Jan. 7, 2025)
- U.S. State Department: Marking Three Years of Conflict in Sudan with Sanctions and Appeal for Humanitarian Truce (April 17, 2026)
- U.S. Mission to the UN: Remarks at a UN Security Council Briefing on Sudan and South Sudan (Oct. 30, 2025)
