The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudan Liberation Movement–Abdul Wahid faction (SLM-AW) have agreed to reopen the Nierteti–Zalingei highway after a six-month shutdown, local authorities said Tuesday.
The security pact was hammered out in Khor Ramla, west of Jebel Marra, during a meeting brokered by Sultan Ahmed Hussein Ayoub Ali Dinar and attended by Central Darfur’s civilian administrator Abdel Karim Yusuf, RSF sector commander, and an SLM-AW team led by Brig. Mohamed Saleh.
Key points of the deal
- The highway reopens immediately to civilian and commercial traffic only; military vehicles are barred.
- RSF and SLM-AW will run joint patrols and share intelligence to protect travellers and aid convoys.
- Both sides pledged to dismantle rogue checkpoints and prosecute anyone extorting “gate fees” along alternative tracks.
Local leaders say unnamed groups—profiting from dozens of informal toll posts known as bawwabat scattered across Darfur’s desert roads—have tried to keep the main route closed. “Some actors want the chaos because it fills their pockets,” said Hussein Mohamed Abkar, deputy to the Sultan.
The Nierteti–Zalingei artery is a lifeline for western Jebel Marra communities, especially during the rainy season when side roads turn impassable. Aid agencies also rely on the corridor to move food and medicine into Central Darfur.
Social-fabric committee chair Hassan Saleh welcomed the breakthrough but warned that “spoilers” still threaten to sabotage the accord for financial or political gain. State officials said they have requested that the RSF and local police give the civilian administration a free hand to monitor compliance in coordination with tribal elders.
Formal correspondence seen by Darfur 24 shows the Central Darfur government has already asked the RSF to provide motorcycles and radio sets to mixed patrols and to clear new drainage channels before peak rains next month.
