RSF Security Adviser Hamid Ali Abubakar Killed in Sudanese Army Drone Strike

Hamid Ali Abubakar, security adviser and field commander for the Rapid Support Forces, was killed along with aides in a Sudanese army drone strike near Zalingei, Central Darfur. His death occurs amid ongoing fighting between the RSF and Sudanese army, which has displaced millions and worsened the country’s humanitarian crisis since April 2023.

Hamid Ali Abubakar, security adviser to Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, was killed along with several aides in a drone strike carried out by the Sudanese army near the city of Zalingei, the capital of Central Darfur state, according to RSF security adviser Al Basha Tabiq. Tabiq confirmed Abubakar’s death in a post on social media, while local sources reported that the drone struck a meeting of RSF forces in the village of Al Firdous, located in the Waranga area near Zalingei in western Sudan.
Abubakar served as an adviser to Dagalo and was also a field commander leading the Al Saif Al Battar unit, which comprises hundreds of RSF fighters. In addition to his military role, he played a central part in mobilizing tribes and traditional leaders to support the RSF, contributing to the group’s influence and operations in the region.
The Sudanese army has not yet issued a comment regarding the incident. The attack comes amid ongoing and intense clashes between the army and the RSF in the three Kordofan states—North, West, and South—which have persisted for weeks and forced tens of thousands of people to flee their homes. In the larger context of the conflict, the RSF controls all five states of the Darfur region in the west, except for some northern parts of North Darfur that remain under army control. The Sudanese army, on the other hand, maintains control over most areas of the remaining 13 states across the south, north, east, and central regions, including the capital, Khartoum.
Since the outbreak of war in April 2023, sparked by a dispute over the unification of Sudan’s military forces, the conflict between the army and the RSF has escalated into a devastating humanitarian crisis. Tens of thousands have been killed, and millions of people have been displaced, with the fighting continuing to wreak havoc across the country and exacerbate existing vulnerabilities among the civilian population.