Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have embarked on a sweeping arrest campaign across South and East Darfur, on Monday, June 9 2025. The campaign targeted former soldiers, civil servants, and civilians accused of collaborating with the Sudanese army.
Local sources report that RSF intelligence operatives arrested dozens in Nyala, the South Darfur capital, including businesspeople and public officials. Among the detained are civil servants Oqba Abdelhamid, Saber Bashir, and Salah Majok. The RSF is also accused of killing Yasser Mustafa, the brother of a senior army officer, during a raid on his home.
The crackdown comes in the wake of intensified aerial attacks by Sudanese army drones on RSF positions, including Nyala’s airport and military facilities. In response, RSF forces have been raiding Starlink satellite internet hubs and detaining civilians under suspicion of espionage. In East Darfur’s El Daein,
RSF units extended their operations, arresting individuals affiliated with the former Islamic Movement, the defunct National Congress Party, and members of African ethnic trading communities. Some RSF members who recently relocated to East Darfur were also detained following the army’s recapture of Khartoum in May 2025.
Amid growing instability, pro-RSF media aired a video of seized weaponry in El Daein, where a field commander vowed to annihilate perceived enemies and “sleeper cells.” The RSF’s civilian administration has since declared a state of emergency and general mobilization across both states, urging the public—especially youth—to rally behind the RSF. Observers warn that the paramilitary’s heavy-handed tactics and inflammatory rhetoric risk deepening divisions and escalating violence in a region already scarred by conflict and lawlessness.