Hommam Al Nassim 
The Sudanese army announced today, Friday, that it has killed the commander of the Central Sector in the “Rapid Support Forces” in Darfur, Ali Yaqoub Jibril, during the battle of El Fasher.
The Governor of Darfur, Minni Arko Minawi, also stated today, Friday, that “the commander of the Rapid Support Forces in El Fasher, Ali Yaqoub Jibril, was killed” in the battles of El Fasher.
In a statement, the Sudanese army said it had thwarted a Rapid Support Forces attack on the city of El Fasher, noting that the forces had incurred significant losses in lives and equipment.
Ali Yaqoub Jibril was previously considered a “tribal militia leader” in Central Darfur State. He is accused of committing “war crimes” and “crimes against humanity” against Sudanese citizens in several areas, including targeting the Fur ethnicity, burning the city of Zalingei, destroying water sources and power stations, and bombing the Hamidiya, Kanjoomia, and Hassahisa camps for displaced persons in Zalingei.
He was also directly responsible for the assassination of “Mutawakil Tambour,” the brother of the head of the Sudan Liberation Movement, Mustafa Tambour, whose forces ambushed him on his way from Nyala to Zalingei and shot him after chasing him.
Jibril also killed several bank employees who refused to hand over keys to vaults that could not be looted and killed a number of civil servants in North Darfur and traditional administrative leaders. Recently, he imposed a siege on the city of El Fasher, to which citizens from all over Darfur had fled, and prevented food and medicine from reaching them.
Jibril’s origins trace back to Chad, from where his family migrated to Darfur in the mid-1980s. He was known for highway robbery and looting commercial caravans coming from Nyala to Zalingei.
He was previously enlisted by the Abdul Wahid Noor movement to help cut off supply routes to the armed forces heading to Zalingei.
Jibril played a decisive role in the operations of the “Rapid Support Forces” in Darfur, where his forces managed to control the entire Central Darfur State.
It is noteworthy that the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Jibril on May 15, as reported by “Reuters”, in connection with the widespread military attacks led by the “Rapid Support Forces” in North Darfur, where Jibril was tasked with leading the operation to capture El Fasher since last April.
The Sudanese army has thwarted dozens of attacks launched by the “Rapid Support Forces” on the city of El Fasher over the past months.
Tension between Khartoum and Riyadh after the graduation of a batch of “Rapid Support” forces (video)