El Fasher, December 22 (Darfur24)
The Sudan Liberation Forces Alliance, led by Sovereignty Council member Abdullah Yahya, announced on Sunday the deaths of three senior military leaders who were killed in El Fasher, North Darfur State, last October.
In a press statement, the alliance said that its deputy commander-in-chief and commander of joint force operations in El Fasher, Aboud Adam Khater; deputy chief of staff for administration, Nour El Din Moussa Hari; and adviser to the commander-in-chief, Ahmed Mohamed Mawloud, were killed in late October following the Rapid Support Forces’ takeover of the city.
Several fighters from the joint force said contact with General Aboud Adam Khater had been lost in the early days after the Rapid Support Forces seized control of El Fasher.
Joint Force leader Idris Rambir said in a post on his Facebook page that he contacted several commanders after the takeover to inquire about Khater’s fate. He learned that his vehicle had been destroyed. He said Khater later moved to another vehicle with North Darfur Governor Al-Hafiz Bakhit, after which contact was lost.
“I remained in contact with General Aboud until the Rapid Support Forces took control of the Sixth Division headquarters,” Rambir wrote. “He told me they would continue fighting and would not surrender, either to leave El Fasher or be killed, especially after their vehicles were repeatedly targeted and nine were destroyed by drone strikes, amid a severe fuel shortage.”
Khater was regarded as one of the most prominent leaders of the joint force of armed movements and a key figure within the Sudan Liberation Forces Alliance led by Al-Tahir Hajar before internal divisions emerged in late 2023.
The alliance later split into two factions: one led by Abdullah Yahya, with Abdullah Jali (also known as Abdullah Jana) as its military commander, and another led by Al-Tahir Hajar, with Ahmed Abu Tanqa as its military commander. Aboud Adam Khater aligned with the Abdullah Yahya faction.
The Rapid Support Forces took control of El Fasher on October 26 after a siege lasting nearly a year and a half and fierce fighting with the Sudanese army and allied joint forces.