Where is Hemeti?

Dr. Abdel-Azim Awad

Recently, the American newspaper The Wall Street Journal questioned the whereabouts of Hemeti, especially since he had not appeared for months. His recent return was through a voice-recorded message in which he admitted the defeat of his forces on various fronts.

The conservative newspaper stated in its main article that the leader of the Rapid Support Forces, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, known as Hemeti, had not appeared publicly for months, which negatively affected the morale of his troops. It noted that the absence of Hemeti had sparked speculation about his whereabouts, with his brother, Abdul Rahim Daglo, taking charge of the forces, in reference to Hemeti’s older half-brother, who leads the rebel forces.

The newspaper quoted Sudanese officials and activists, who said that Hemeti’s absence negatively impacted the morale of his fighters. It pointed to the withdrawal of hundreds of them from the capital, heading back to their homes in Darfur. In truth, many sources close to the Daglo militia have recently stated that most of the militia’s fighters now feel that their leader has abandoned them, especially at a time when the Sudanese Armed Forces have intensified their strikes on various fronts, causing the enemy to retreat, leaving behind their vehicles, weapons, and the bodies of their dead. These devastating blows have led to the Armed Forces and their allies regaining most of the cities and neighborhoods that were under the militia’s control until recently.

What the famous American newspaper did not openly mention, though it could be inferred between the lines, is that the strategic plans executed by the Sudanese Army, with a sweeping aerial attack supported by trained infantry forces since last September, were what silenced the militia, leaving retreat and survival as their only option. This retreat was described by some of Hemeti’s advisors as a “tactical withdrawal,” but they were deceiving themselves and some naive followers with such claims.

The undeniable truth is that the Sudanese Armed Forces, with their high level of preparation and training, have managed since the beginning of this militia aggression to absorb the initial shock with patience, endurance, and high fighting spirit. They then moved to the second stage, a difficult equation: minimizing damage to infrastructure as much as possible and acting professionally to reduce losses to a minimum.

Therefore, what The Wall Street Journal did not mention about the secret of Hemeti’s disappearance is these painful blows that his defeated and self-destructive army has been receiving, amidst popular rejoicing shared by all Sudanese. At the same time, there is widespread resentment and hatred toward him and his political support from most segments of the Sudanese people, who once dreamed of his rule and control, hoping he would bring them the democracy of illusion and the false promises of a civilian government, which misled the naive activists of the Forces of Freedom and Change into following him, hoping for a return to a power that now exists only in dreams, like a mirage they mistake for water… What a miserable dream and fantasy.

Quoted from “Sudanese Echoes.”