Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Arabic: محمد حمدان دقلو, romanized: Muḥammad Ḥamdān Daqlū, born 1974 or 1975), generally referred to mononymously as Hemedti[1] (Arabic: حميدتي, romanized: Ḥamīdtī; also spelled Hemetti[7] or Hemeti[8]; meaning "little Mohamed"),[9] is a Sudanese military officer and the current head of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

A Janjaweed leader from the Rizeigat tribe[10] in Darfur, he was the Deputy head of the Transitional Military Council (TMC) following the 2019 Sudanese coup d'état.

[16] Under Article 19 of the August 2019 Draft[needs update] Constitutional Declaration, Hemedti and the other Sovereignty Council members were to be ineligible to run in the 2022 Sudanese general election.

[17][18] As of 2019, Hemedti was considered one of the richest people in Sudan via his company, al-Junaid, which had a wide array of business interests including investment, mining, transport, car rental, iron and steel.

[29] According to Al Jazeera and The Daily Beast, the Sudanese Transitional Military Council, headed by the RSF, holds major responsibility for the 3 June 2019 Khartoum massacre.

[38][39] The RSF was created in 2013 under the leadership of Hemedti, out of former Janjaweed groups of fighters, several of whose leaders and supporters (Ahmed Haroun, Ali Kushayb, Abdel Rahim Mohammed Hussein, in addition to al-Bashir) have been indicted for war crimes by the ICC.

[29] In 2014, the RSF, led by Hemedti, carried out the "Operation Decisive Summer" in South Darfur and North Darfur from late February to early May 2014, during which they carried out "killings, mass rape and torture of civilians; the forced displacement of entire communities; the destruction of the physical infrastructure necessary for sustaining life in the harsh desert environment including wells, food stores, shelter, and farming implements."

[27] Sudan Liberation Movement/Army rebels of Minni Minawi's faction (SLA/MM) had been present in some of the towns but had left them at the time of the crimes against humanity carried out under Hemedti's command.

In April 2019 Hemedti was described by Alex de Waal as "one of the richest men in Sudan ... at the centre of a web of patronage, secret security deals, and political payoffs.

Hemedti also visited Russia during Ukraine's invasion to sign a partnership deal with the Wagner Group in exchange of giving them the license to mine gold in Sudan.

According to Western officials, General Hamdan’s wealth includes livestock, real estate and private security firms, with much of the money held in Dubai.

[52] Hemedti became Deputy head of the Transitional Military Council (TMC) after using the RSF to detain former president al-Bashir during the 2019 Sudanese coup d'état.

[1] In May 2019, Hemedti's first international trip was to Saudi Arabia to meet Mohammad bin Salman, during which he stated: "Sudan is standing with the kingdom against all threats and attacks from Iran and Houthi militias.

[1] The 3 June 2019 Khartoum massacre in which 100 protestors were killed, hundreds wounded, and other civilians raped and homes pillaged, were carried out in large part by the RSF under Hemedti's leadership according to The Daily Beast[30] and Sudanese political cartoonist Khalid Albaih.

[20][21] On 4 August 2019 Hemedti and Rabee signed, on behalf of the TMC and FFC, a Constitutional Declaration to define details of transitional arrangements absent from the Political Agreement.

[16] Under Article 19 of the August 2019 Draft Constitutional Declaration, Hemedti, along with the other Sovereignty Council members, is forbidden from running in the 2022 Sudanese general election scheduled to end the transitional period.

[23] Dagalo was funded by the United Arab Emirates and met with the leader of the UAE, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in February 2022.

And following many rounds with the leaders of these movements, who have been rebelling against the state since 2003, in the regions of Darfur, Blue Nile, and South Kordofan, they managed to reach a peace agreement in October 2020.

[59] On 16 April, Abdalla Hamdok, the Former Prime Minister of Sudan appealed to both Dagalo and al-Burhan to agree on a permanent cease fire and stop the fighting.

Russia's Wagner Group, Libya's LNA commander Khalifa Haftar, and the United Arab Emirates had reportedly helped the RSF with military supplies, helicopters, and weapons.