A reported plan to establish a new armed force in Sudan’s Darfur region, involving former Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commanders now aligned with the Sudanese army, has triggered fresh tensions within General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan’s military coalition.
The proposed formation, known as Western Shield, has reportedly drawn opposition from Darfur Governor Minni Arko Minnawi, whose Sudan Liberation Movement is a leading component of the Joint Forces fighting alongside the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF).
According to Sudanese media reports published on Sunday, former RSF commanders held a meeting at the residence of prominent tribal leader Musa Hilal, head of the Revolutionary Awakening Council, to discuss establishing the new force.
Those reportedly attending included Ali Rizqallah, widely known as al-Savanna, and Al-Nur Ahmed Adam, known as Al-Nur Quba, alongside other commanders who had abandoned the RSF and joined the army.
The discussions allegedly focused on creating a military formation capable of participating in operations across Darfur and recapturing territory from the RSF.
The reported meeting and proposed command arrangements could not be independently verified. No official announcement confirming the establishment of Western Shield has been identified.
Sources cited by Sudanese media said Minnawi was concerned that the proposed formation could receive weapons, funding and logistical assistance from army-controlled authorities in Khartoum, potentially undermining the influence of the Joint Forces.
The controversy follows a series of unusually sharp remarks by Minnawi, who warned against the state financing new militias and repeating the policies that contributed to Sudan’s militarisation under former President Omar al-Bashir.
Speaking on October 7, Minnawi threatened to resist any government that continued establishing and supporting armed formations outside recognised institutions.
He subsequently clarified his remarks, rejecting suggestions that he intended to launch another rebellion and insisting that his opposition was directed at the proliferation of militias.
In an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat published on October 10, Minnawi warned that establishing independent armed groups, including formations described as shields, threatened Sudan’s stability and territorial unity.
He called for all armed groups to operate under national institutions and said security reforms should include integration, demobilisation and restructuring.
The dispute has intensified questions surrounding the army’s increasing dependence on allied militias, tribal formations and former RSF commanders as the war enters its fourth year.
Both Al-Nur Quba and al-Savanna defected from the RSF in April 2026. Reports published in late September subsequently indicated that Quba had encouraged other defectors to coordinate under the Western Shield name.
However, the proposed force’s actual size, financing, command structure and relationship with SAF remain unclear.
The latest controversy also comes against a backdrop of previously reported disputes between Burhan and Minnawi over military financing, political influence and the deployment of Joint Forces fighters.
Those tensions have raised questions about whether the army is seeking to reorganise its network of armed allies and reduce its reliance on established Darfur movements.
The Joint Forces, including Minnawi’s movement and the Justice and Equality Movement led by Finance Minister Jibril Ibrahim, have fought alongside SAF against the RSF during the current conflict.
