The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have ordered the head of Central Darfur’s civil administration, Abdulkarim Yusuf Othman, to travel urgently to Nyala, according to local sources, in the latest unexplained move involving senior administrators in RSF-controlled areas.
Sources told Darfur24 that an RSF military force arrived in Zalingei on Saturday and informed Othman that he was required to report to Nyala, the capital of neighbouring South Darfur.
Othman subsequently left Zalingei in his official government vehicle accompanied by an RSF military vehicle, the sources said.
The reason for the summons was not immediately known, with little information available about the circumstances surrounding the order or whether Othman was being questioned over a specific issue.
The RSF appointed Othman as head of Central Darfur’s civil administration on July 15, 2024.
Originally from the Najama area of Kass locality, Othman studied metallurgical engineering at Sudan University. He previously worked at the Ministry of Urban Planning in West Darfur before joining the equivalent ministry after Central Darfur was established as a separate state.
He later rose to become director-general of the ministry before the outbreak of Sudan’s war in April 2023.
The summons comes amid heightened scrutiny of senior civilian officials in RSF-administered areas. The force recently arrested the heads of the civil administrations in East Darfur and South Darfur, Mohamed Idris Khater and Youssef Idris, respectively.
The sequence of arrests and summonses has raised questions over possible internal administrative or political tensions within RSF-controlled Darfur, although no official explanation has been issued.
