The city of Ed Daein, East Darfur State, witnessed a stormy meeting between Abdel Rahim Dagalo and a number of tribal leaders and prominent figures from the Rizeigat community. According to local sources, the meeting marked one of the most serious confrontations in recent years between the leadership of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia and tribal and community leaders in Darfur.

According to the sources, tribal leaders from various localities across Darfur attended the meeting. Their interventions focused primarily on the deteriorating humanitarian conditions facing fighters wounded in the war, including what they described as neglect and inadequate medical care, as well as the growing number of amputees, paralyzed fighters, and wounded personnel suffering from untreated and, in some cases, infected wounds.

Several tribal leaders said they had become unable to persuade members of their communities to mobilize and join the fighting, citing what they viewed as the RSF leadership's abandonment of wounded fighters and their families. The remarks were seen as an indication of declining social support for recruitment and mobilization efforts.

In a particularly heated intervention, one tribal leader challenged Abdel Rahim Dagalo to accompany them to villages and rural communities and personally address the women there, urging them to persuade their sons to join the fighting. He concluded by indicating that mobilization had become extremely difficult, reflecting the extent of the decline in recruitment efforts across Darfur, particularly among the Rizeigat.

The meeting, however, took an even more confrontational turn when Dagalo addressed the tribal leaders angrily, accusing some of colluding with the Sudanese Army and threatening to transfer them all to Daqris Prison. The threats prompted objections from several participants, who interrupted him and rejected what they considered an intimidating approach. One tribal leader confronted him directly, saying: “You cannot threaten us with prison.”

The interruptions and protests continued until the tribal paramount chief (Nazir) and his deputy intervened to contain the situation and calm the participants.

Abdel Rahim Dagalo left Ed Daein angry following the meeting, amid speculation about possible repercussions for relations between the RSF leadership and some tribal and community leaders in Darfur.

The confrontation coincided with reports of an RSF campaign of arrests targeting a number of tribal leaders and figures associated with what the militia calls the “civil administration” in Darfur. The latest reported case involved the arrest of Tribal Leader Al-Tom Musa in Nyala. Musa had advised Abdel Rahim Dagalo to surrender to the Sudanese Army or seek refuge in Chad. His arrest has sparked widespread resentment among local communities.

Taken together, these developments point to growing tensions in areas under RSF influence, particularly amid declining mobilization, mounting humanitarian pressures on fighters and wounded personnel, and widening disagreements between the militia's military leadership and sections of Darfur's tribal and community leadership.

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