The Wall Street Journal has revealed leaked documents proving that the UAE contracted Sudanese mercenaries, affiliated with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia, to fight in Yemen and Libya.
The report stated that in 2020, the UAE signed a deal with the leader of the RSF, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as “Hemeti,” to rent his fighters as mercenaries in Yemen and Libya, after paying him $27 million, according to banking documents.
The newspaper also highlighted that Hemeti’s militia in Sudan is accused of killing tens of thousands in the Darfur region.
In tracing Hemeti’s rise to power, the report noted that after surviving an ambush, he took steps to protect his family and livelihood by recruiting young men, mostly from his Rizeigat Arab tribe. He distributed weapons to them and formed his own security force, which soon transformed into a private army and eventually into a brutal gang of killers and rapists, according to Sudanese and international human rights organizations.
Hemeti’s militia, which locals called the “Janjaweed” or “Horsemen of Evil,” is now known as the RSF, a paramilitary force accused of committing genocide twice over the past two decades.
In both instances, his Arab fighters were accused of killing thousands of Sudanese of African descent in the western Darfur region.
Alex de Waal, Executive Director of the World Peace Foundation at Tufts University, said Hemeti specializes in violence and, after failing to seize the Sudanese state, decided to destroy it. Hemeti, now about 50 years old, is believed to be very close to achieving this goal.
After splitting from the Sudanese Military Council two years ago following a confrontation with Army Chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, became a battleground, as factions competed for control.
The aftermath resulted in further catastrophic outcomes, including the deaths of tens of thousands due to violence, hunger, and disease, according to reports from the U.S. State Department.
De Waal continued: Hemeti has been officially accused of genocide, with U.S. officials stating that his forces “committed a series of documented war crimes, including ethnic killings and sexual violence as a method of war.”
He added that with violence escalating in Africa’s third-largest country, there are growing concerns over the control of some of the continent’s largest gold reserves, control of the Nile waters (which are vital to Sudan and Egypt), and management of migration routes through the Sahara towards Europe.
Hemeti first gained international notoriety following a raid in 2002, during which Sudan was embroiled in a civil war between the Arab government in Khartoum and African Christian and pagan groups in the south.
The war ended in 2005, leading to the independence of South Sudan in 2011. This period witnessed a proliferation of weapons, which Hemeti exploited to arm hundreds of his tribesmen.
His fighters described him as a charismatic leader who earned their loyalty by allowing them to loot the lands they conquered.
Hemeti also built his image as a desert warrior, wearing sand-colored military fatigues and a white turban, earning him the nickname “Hemeti” or “Mohamed the Little.”
His forces were part of the Janjaweed militia, which proved effective in desert warfare.
Hemeti’s military prowess caught the attention of then-Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who was fighting a rebellion from marginalized African groups in Darfur.
Hemeti’s forces employed brutal tactics, including the systematic rape of African women, running over men and youths with trucks, burning African villages, and destroying wells and farms to make room for grazing lands for his Rizeigat tribe, in addition to carrying out Darfur massacres.
The U.S. formally accused Hemeti of genocide due to his role in these atrocities.
In 2017, Hemeti seized the Jebel Amer gold mine in Darfur, where he sold gold to Russia and the UAE, according to a Global Witness report. He continued to smuggle gold through Chad and the Central African Republic.
Hemeti kept stacks of gold bars in his palaces in Khartoum and Darfur.
In 2019, Hemeti overthrew Bashir, allying with Burhan to oust him. He became Sudan’s Vice President but soon entered into a bloody power struggle with Burhan.
Hemeti’s militia controlled a third of Sudan and brought in mercenaries from Colombia to bolster his forces.
By mid-2023, his forces stormed the city of Geneina, the stronghold of Africans in Darfur, carrying out mass executions.
The United Nations estimated that by December 2023, more than 15,000 had been killed.
However, in recent months, Hemeti lost control of the city of Wad Madani, leading to internal strife within his forces. He became more anxious and detached from reality, accusing his military commanders of failure.
