Daily life is edging back into Nyala, capital of South Darfur, after months of lawlessness that followed the outbreak of war, as the Sudan Founding Alliance (TASIS) designates the city the seat of its civilian administration led by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Local authorities say policing has resumed under the banner of the “Federal Police,” alongside the graduation of an RSF-affiliated military police cohort tasked with public security and crime control. Traders report the main market has reopened after a two-year shutdown.
TASIS has converted several refurbished government sites — including the former agriculture ministry, the personal status court and the land registry — into offices for the prime minister and the presidential council, signaling an institutional footprint in the city.
Fighting gripped Nyala after war erupted in April 2023. Following more than 65 battles and the fall of General al-Burhan’s army (SAF) 16th Infantry Division headquarters, RSF forces took control on Oct. 24, 2023 — the first SAF division to be overrun by the Sudanese group. The takeover was followed by the withdrawal of regular forces, a surge in crime and mass displacement, before a gradual return of services from December that year.
As RSF consolidated control across parts of Darfur, it moved to install a civilian administration through a Higher Council for Civil Administrations, naming Mohamed Ahmed Hassan as South Darfur governor before replacing him with administrative officer Yusuf Idris.
Air operations have continued to shape the city’s security picture. RSF sources say SAF warplanes carried out more than 100 strikes through 2024 and into January 2025, hitting military and civilian locations. Residents in central districts describe repeated bombardment and displacement. RSF reopened Nyala International Airport on Sept. 24, 2024, to receive logistical flights; it has since been targeted by SAF strikes but reportedly remained operational. RSF-linked sources also claim they deployed jamming and modern air defences and shot down a military aircraft in mid-February 2025.
Nyala has also seen a string of explosions widely attributed by RSF to SAF drones, including blasts near the Al-Dhamin Hotel, which RSF units were using, and damage to an RSF cargo plane on the tarmac. RSF accused the SAF of later hitting civilian sites, most recently the Yashfeen Specialist Clinic.
Residents say their top priorities are security and services. They are calling for reopened health centres, affordable medicines and tighter market oversight, while crediting recent security sweeps with improving day-to-day conditions.
