Significant numbers of fighters affiliated with the SAF-aligned Joint Force have joined the Rapid Support Forces in West Darfur, the RSF said on Monday, in a development that points to growing strain inside the anti-RSF military coalition.
In a post on its official Telegram channel, the RSF said “large groups” from the Joint Force had joined its ranks in West Darfur state. The announcement was accompanied by footage published by the force, though no independent confirmation of the number of fighters was immediately available.
The Joint Force is made up of several Darfur-based armed movements that aligned themselves with General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan’s SAF after initially presenting themselves as neutral in Sudan’s war. Its most prominent components include factions linked to Minni Arko Minnawi’s Sudan Liberation Movement and Jibril Ibrahim’s Justice and Equality Movement.
The reported joining comes amid a wider pattern of tension inside SAF’s wartime alliances, with local incidents, battlefield setbacks and accusations of indiscipline increasingly exposing divisions among armed groups operating alongside the SAF.
For the RSF, the announcement carries both military and political value. Militarily, it suggests a possible erosion of SAF-aligned forces in a region where control of routes, local communities and border access remains strategically important. Politically, it allows the RSF to present itself as gaining momentum among former opponents in Darfur.
West Darfur has remained one of the most sensitive theatres of Sudan’s war, linking the conflict’s military frontlines with tribal politics, cross-border movements and competing claims of legitimacy by armed actors.
The RSF did not provide details on the identities of the groups or commanders who joined its ranks. The Joint Force has not yet issued a public response to the claim.
