El Fasher, October 16 (Darfur24)
The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) announced on Wednesday that they had taken full control of the town of Abu Gamra in Karnoi locality, about 200 km northwest of El Fasher in North Darfur.
The takeover came just hours after the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) led by Minni Arko Minawi said it had received a group of fighters loyal to Tahir Hajar, who had been stationed in Abu Gamra and defected to join the movement.
Darfur24 verified a video posted by RSF fighters confirming their presence in the town, located about 150 km southeast of the Tina border crossing with Chad. In the footage, an RSF commander urged residents to return and reopen their shops, assuring them of their safety.
According to three sources in North Darfur, Abu Gamra had previously been controlled by the Sudan Liberation Forces Alliance led by Tahir Hajar, a member of the Presidential Council of the Sudan Constituent Alliance, which is headed by RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo “Hemeti.”
A local source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Hajar’s force consisted of 31 combat vehicles. Internal disputes broke out among the fighters, prompting around 200 men in 20 vehicles to defect and join Minawi’s SLM. Another group joined the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) led by Gibril Ibrahim, which is part of the joint force based near Karnoi.
The source added that a smaller force of seven vehicles, led by a commander named Mohammedin, refused to join any faction and withdrew to Kabkabiya. They later returned to Abu Gamra with RSF personnel and took over the town without significant resistance.
A Sudanese military source told Darfur 24 that RSF control of Abu Gamra poses a direct threat to Karnoi and Tina. He said Tina is witnessing intensive preparations to repel a possible attack, following reports of an RSF force positioned about 65 km to the south.
Another source described Abu Gamra as strategically important due to its location connecting Kabkabiya, Kutum, Al-Sareef Bani Hussein, Saraf Omra, Karnoi, and Tina.
Field reports indicate that the RSF has amassed large numbers of fighters and military equipment in Kulbus, near Tina, as part of an effort to seize the last areas held by the army and the joint force in Ambaro, Tina, and Karnoi in northwest El Fasher.
The RSF currently controls most of North Darfur, except for the town of Tawila, which remains under the Sudan Liberation Movement led by Abdel Wahid al-Nur, and the city of El Fasher, which is still held by the Sudanese army despite a crippling siege since April last year.