Ali Al-Safna Defects From Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces, Joins Sudanese Army

Ali Rizq Allah, known as 'Al-Safna,' announced his defection from the Rapid Support Forces and said he was joining the Sudanese army after a maneuver that lasted several days to ensure his safety.

“The defecting commander from the Rapid Support Forces, Ali Abdullah Rizk Allah, known as 'Al-Safna', issued a series of stances and field testimonies about the behind-the-scenes of the Sudanese war and the leadership structure inside the Rapid Support Forces, while warning that the ongoing fighting between the army and the RSF could jeopardize the country’s unity and ultimately lead to Sudan’s division”

Al-Jazeera Net

Independent Arabia said the leaked audio message included unprecedented criticisms of militia leader Mohammed Hamdan Daglo (Hemeti), and it described the arrest of Yusuf Ezzat, one of Hemeti’s closest advisers, since October 2025 following his resignation, carried out by order of the RSF commander.

Al-Jazeera Net

Al-Safna’s defection came after Major General Nour Ahmed Adam, known as “Nour al-Quba,” defected and joined the Sudanese army in April, a move that provoked anger in Hemeti and was followed by a ruling stripping Nour al-Quba of his military rank and a death sentence in absentia for charges of “joining the enemy army.”

Al-Safna is described as a brigadier and one of the prominent commanders who led battles in Khartoum and El Fasher, and Al-Arabiya said his defection came in a feint operation in which he claimed to be heading to Kordofan before slipping away from RSF ambushes.

Al-Safna’s defection was also framed as a strong blow to the RSF after the defection of Nur al-Qubba, with Al-Arabiya reporting that Al-Safna commands a very large force and substantial military equipment.

In an interview with Al Jazeera Mubasher, Al-Safna warned that fighting between the army and the RSF could jeopardize the country’s unity and ultimately lead to Sudan’s division.

Al-Jazeera Net reported that Al-Safna confirmed that about 5,000 RSF personnel and officers defected with him at the same time, and it said he met with Sudanese Army Chief Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Burhan to agree on the necessity to reach a radical and decisive solution aimed at ending the war and stopping the bloodshed.

Ash-Sharq Al-Awsat

Al-Safna also revealed details of a meeting held a month earlier with RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo (Hemetti) in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, quoting Hemetti as directly admitting that 'the current war has completely slipped from his hands.'

In describing RSF structure, Al-Safna stressed that Hemetti remains the first and final say inside the RSF, while his brother Abdul Rahim Daglo appears as the primary and direct responsible for the violations commonly committed by those forces.

Al-Safna defended his military career and denied dual loyalties, saying 'I was never a double agent for either the army or the RSF,' and he said he was ready to appear before any court to provide testimony and be held responsible.

The East Asian outlet said Al-Safna’s defection was the second defection of a prominent RSF field commander in less than a month, after Colonel Ali Rizk Allah, popularly known as 'Al-Saffinna,' announced his break with the Rapid Support Forces without aligning with any armed party.

“Summary: In line with what Independent Arabia published a few days ago, Ali Rizq Allah, a commander in the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), announced his defection and his joining the Sudanese army after a maneuver that lasted several days to ensure his safety”

Andbandnt Arabiyya

Al-Saffinna appeared in a widely circulated video and said, 'We are not advocates of war; we seek peace and stability,' while stressing that since Monday he has not belonged to the Rapid Support Forces or to any other side, referring to the Sudanese army.

The same outlet reported that the head of the Sovereignty Council, Sudanese army commander Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, said last Friday that 'the homeland’s embrace' is open to anyone who lays down arms, while also noting that Burhan’s remarks came amid public anger at the army’s reception of defectors accused of participating in criminal abuses against civilians.

Al-Jazeera Net tied the defections to the broader conflict, saying that since April 2023 the Sudanese army and the RSF have been engaged in military clashes over the integration of the forces, causing a wide humanitarian crisis and famine among the worst in the world, in addition to tens of thousands killed and about 13 million displaced.

In Al-Safna’s account, he warned that the ongoing fighting could jeopardize Sudan’s unity and ultimately lead to division, while also asserting that true and lasting peace cannot be achieved without first ensuring field stability and that the Sudanese people alone have the right and final say on negotiations and the country’s future.