In a significant development, Sudan’s army announced on Friday the killing of Ali Yagoub Gibril, a senior commander for the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) who was under U.S. sanctions.
Gibril was killed during a battle in the besieged city of al-Fashir in North Darfur. The RSF has yet to comment on his death.
Gibril played a crucial role in the RSF’s efforts in al-Fashir, the last major city in Darfur not under RSF control.
According to an army statement, he was killed when an RSF attack was repelled early Friday by Sudanese troops and allied forces, which include non-Arab former rebel groups from Darfur aligned with the army.
The RSF has been laying siege to al-Fashir, a city of 1.8 million people, for several weeks. Top U.N. officials have warned that the ongoing conflict could spark widespread intercommunal violence.
The U.N. Security Council called on Thursday for an end to the siege.
The war between Sudan’s army and the RSF erupted in mid-April last year over disagreements on conditions for a democratic transition.
The conflict has since spread across the country, causing the world’s largest displacement crisis, renewed ethnic violence in Darfur attributed to the RSF and its allies, and a sharp increase in extreme hunger.
