Who is Hemeti? From warlord to 'rebel commander'

Sudan's deadly power struggle centres around two men: army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, widely known as Hemeti.

Just 18 months ago, Hemeti lent his support to Burhan, as the latter carried out a military coup against the then transitional military-civilian government. 

But the uneasy alliance between the two has well and truly ended: Hemeti went live on television on Saturday to state that Burhan would be brought to justice or "die like a dog". 

Hemeti had no formal education, but went on to become leader of one of the largest Janjaweed militias involved in a government campaign in Darfur that killed hundreds of thousands. 

His paramilitary groups, which later morphed into the RSF, acted as de-facto bodyguards to former autocrat Omar al-Bashir.

In June 2019, Hemeti's RSF was the primary culprit when authorities killed over 100 people at a sit-in protest. 

Who is Hemeti, and how did he go from loyalist warlord to being labelled a "rebel commander" attempting to seize control of Sudan’s airports and presidential palace?

Read more: Who is Hemeti? The feared former warlord vying for control in Sudan