Sudan’s two-year war took a dangerous turn this week as the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) captured the entire Darfur region, including its capital, el-Fasher, after ousting the Sudanese army from its last stronghold. The conflict has killed over 40,000 people and displaced more than 14 million, creating the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

The RSF, led by Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemedti, has roots in the Janjaweed militias that carried out mass killings and forced displacements in Darfur during the early 2000s. Initially formed to impose discipline on these militias, the RSF has been accused of torture, extrajudicial killings, mass rapes, and plunder.

Dagalo, a native of Darfur from an Arab camel-trading tribe, used his family’s livestock and gold mining operations to build support and expand the militia. Since the overthrow of former President Omar al-Bashir in 2019, he has emerged as Sudan’s main power broker, competing for control with army chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan.

The RSF has also courted regional allies. Its fighters have served in Yemen and Libya, and the group has been involved in European Union border deals. The army has accused the UAE and Libya’s Khalifa Haftar of supporting the RSF, charges denied by both parties.

After losing control of Khartoum earlier this year, the RSF regrouped in Darfur and Kordofan, strengthening its position with local alliances and foreign-supplied drones and weapons. Dagalo claims he is forming a rival government to rule RSF-controlled areas.

The capture of Darfur raises fears of renewed fragmentation in Sudan, nearly 15 years after South Sudan gained independence, and signals a possible expansion of the RSF’s campaign toward central Sudan.