Command, allied forces and mobilisation · SAF-aligned militia · Sudan
Sudan Shield Forces
قوات درع السودان
- Allied force or mobilisation network
- AGrade A: Official recordStrongest record: official record
- 4 documented ties · 1 step from the SAF
Also recorded as: Dir' al-Sudan; قوات درع السودان; Butana Shield Forces; Sudan Shield Forces (SSF); SSF; Sudan Shield Forces - pillage of property and livestock in Kanabi villages (UN FFM)
EU reasons for Keikal mostly concern his earlier RSF period. A drug-transit allegation against the force rests on one paper with anonymous sources and is unsupported by a second source. Sudan Shield denies the allegations.
Flagged for legal review before publication.
Fights alongside SAF since leader Abu Aqla Keikal defected back from the RSF in Oct 2024 (previously SAF-aligned 2022-Aug 2023, then RSF, as RSF 'governor' of Gezira from Dec 2023). ABUSES: HRW found SSF 'intentionally targeted civilians' at Kambo Tayba, Gezira, 10 Jan 2025, killing at least 26, with systematic looting incl. ~2,000 cattle. Lighthouse Reports/CNN (Dec 2025) documented attacks on Kanabi communities in 57 villages in Gezira and Sennar Oct 2024-May 2025 by SAF or allied militias including SSF and al-Baraa bin Malik. DRUGS/SMUGGLING (single source): STPT (Mar 2026) calls SSF 'among the most notorious of these militias with records of engagement in illicit activities'; cites a former RSF officer that drugs moved from production areas north of Khartoum 'through the Butana plains to the Red Sea, facilitated by the Sudan Shield' and Keikal; says SSF 'maintains relationships with smuggling gangs in eastern Sudan, particularly those run by members of the Rashayda tribe'. A former SAF spokesperson told Al Jazeera (Oct 2024) Keikal 'originally traded in smuggled weapons' on the Sudan-Ethiopia-Eritrea borders (as cited by STPT).
Their response
- HRW: SAF condemned the abuses in eastern Gezira as 'individual transgressions' and promised accountability; the Sudan Shield 'denied accusations it had been involved in abuses against Kanabi communities and expressed support for the SAF-led investigations'. No response to the STPT drug allegations located.
- SAF condemned the abuses but called them individual excesses: 'وأدانت القوات المسلحة السودانية الانتهاكات في شرق الجزيرة لكنها وصفتها بأنها تجاوزات فردية'.
- Not captured in the UN report.
›This record describes attacks on civilians. Show
Fights alongside SAF since leader Abu Aqla Keikal defected back from the RSF in Oct 2024 (previously SAF-aligned 2022-Aug 2023, then RSF, as RSF 'governor' of Gezira from Dec 2023). ABUSES: HRW found SSF 'intentionally targeted civilians' at Kambo Tayba, Gezira, 10 Jan 2025, killing at least 26, with systematic looting incl. ~2,000 cattle. Lighthouse Reports/CNN (Dec 2025) documented attacks on Kanabi communities in 57 villages in Gezira and Sennar Oct 2024-May 2025 by SAF or allied militias including SSF and al-Baraa bin Malik. DRUGS/SMUGGLING (single source): STPT (Mar 2026) calls SSF 'among the most notorious of these militias with records of engagement in illicit activities'; cites a former RSF officer that drugs moved from production areas north of Khartoum 'through the Butana plains to the Red Sea, facilitated by the Sudan Shield' and Keikal; says SSF 'maintains relationships with smuggling gangs in eastern Sudan, particularly those run by members of the Rashayda tribe'. A former SAF spokesperson told Al Jazeera (Oct 2024) Keikal 'originally traded in smuggled weapons' on the Sudan-Ethiopia-Eritrea borders (as cited by STPT).
- Why this grade
- A (sanctions, abuses); C (drug-transit facilitation: single NGO paper relying on anonymous sources)
- Response
- HRW: SAF condemned the abuses in eastern Gezira as 'individual transgressions' and promised accountability; the Sudan Shield 'denied accusations it had been involved in abuses against Kanabi communities and expressed support for the SAF-led investigations'. No response to the STPT drug allegations located.
- Sanctions
- Leader Abu Aqla Mohamed Ahmed Keikal: EU asset freeze/travel ban, Reg. (EU) 2025/1480, 18 July 2025 (reasons centre on his period as RSF commander/governor in Gezira, serious human rights violations and obstruction of humanitarian aid); UK asset freeze/travel ban, SUD0027, designated 5 Feb 2026 (violence against the Kanabi people). Associated: Al-Tayyib Al-Imam Joda, EU-listed 29 Jan 2026 (Reg. 2026/251) for assisting SAF and SSF in recruiting and organising the campaign against Kanabi communities. SSF as an entity is not listed by US/EU/UK in the lists checked.
Sudan Shield Forces - pillage of property and livestock in Kanabi villages (UN FFM)
2025-01
SAF-allied since Oct 2024. A/HRC/60/22 para 36: 'Between 9 and 12 January 2025, the Sudan Shield Forces attacked several Kanabi villages, including Tayba and Dar al-Salam al-Hideba. They arrived in armed vehicles, shooting and killing unarmed civilians, burning homes and looting property and livestock. In Tayba alone, at least 26 individuals, including a child, were killed ... In Dar al-Salam al-Hideba, at least 16 individuals were killed and many houses looted and burned.' See also the detention-for-payment entry (sham 'affiliation certificates').
- Response
- Not captured in the UN report.
- Sanctions
- Abu Aqla Keikal: EU 18 Jul 2025; UK 5 Feb 2026.
›Research notes
Adds UN FFM corroboration (looting of livestock and property) to the first-pass HRW-based entry. No source reviewed documents SSF checkpoint taxation; the drug-transit allegation remains single-source (first pass).
›This record describes attacks on civilians. Show
Sudan War Monitor investigation: Sudan Shield, fighting alongside SAF, deliberately targeted civilians and property in Tayba village, Gezira, on 10 Jan 2025, killing at least 26; based on survivor interviews, satellite imagery and video.
- Response
- SAF condemned the abuses but called them individual excesses: 'وأدانت القوات المسلحة السودانية الانتهاكات في شرق الجزيرة لكنها وصفتها بأنها تجاوزات فردية'.
- Source
- independent OSINT/monitoring collective
Sudan Shield Forces drug-transit allegation - still single-source after pass 3
2025-2026
Unsupported beyond the STPT paper of 5 Mar 2026. The Sudan Tribune article of the same date that repeats it is a report on the STPT paper, not independent reporting. Arabic and English searches found no arrest, charge, conviction or official statement tying the Sudan Shield Forces or any of its officers to drug trafficking, and no response from the group. Sudan Tribune's June-July 2026 reporting on 'forces loyal to the army' in the drug trade names only the Joint Force.
- Response
- No response from the Sudan Shield Forces found.
- Sanctions
- Leader Abu Aqla Keikal: EU (18 Jul 2025) and UK (5 Feb 2026), on other grounds.
›Research notes
Do not name the individual officer mentioned by STPT: the brief limits drug cases to people charged or convicted, and none has been.
2 more records below grade A (corroborated, single-source or unverified). Change “Evidence shown” to see them.
1 more record at grade C (single source) or D (unverified lead). Change “Evidence shown” to see it.
1 more record at grade D (unverified lead). Change “Evidence shown” to see it.
“he is or has been responsible for, engaging in, providing support for, or promoting the commission of serious violations of international humanitarian law in Sudan, namely grave breaches such as violence against persons, specifically the Kanabi people, on the basis of their ethnicity or religious beliefs.”
UK Sanctions List, SUD0027↗5 Feb 2026verified verbatim
“Abu Aqla Mohamed Ahmed Kaikal is a Sudanese Military Commander who served in the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the Jazira state in Sudan until he defected to the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) in October 2024. In December 2023, he was appointed by the RSF as Governor of the Jazira state, after the RSF violently took over that area.”
Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1480, Annex, A.11↗18 Jul 2025verified verbatim
“The Sudan Shield Forces on January 14 denied accusations it had been involved in abuses against Kanabi communities and expressed support for the SAF-led investigations. [...] The SAF has condemned the abuses in eastern Gezira but described them as “individual transgressions” and said it would hold those responsible accountable.”
Human Rights Watch, "Sudan: Armed Group Allied to the Military Attacks Village" (25 February 2025)↗25 Feb 2025verified verbatim
Ownership and control · 1
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From Abu Aqla Keikal
head / commander · 2022-present (SAF-aligned again from Oct 2024)
Fighting forces · 3
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- →
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From Al-Tayyib Al-Imam Joda
assisted recruitment/organisation of anti-Kanabi campaign (EU statement of reasons) · 2024-2025
1 more relationship below grade A (corroborated, single-source or unverified). Change “Evidence shown” to see it.
Other recorded relations · 1
1 more relationship below grade A (corroborated, single-source or unverified). Change “Evidence shown” to see it.
1 more relationship at grade C (single source) or D (unverified lead). Change “Evidence shown” to see it.
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To Kanabi communities, Gezira
attacked civilians (Tayba, 10 Jan 2025: at least 26 killed; looting) · 2025-01
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To Captagon transit Butana-Red Sea
alleged facilitation of drug movement (anonymous former RSF officer via STPT) · 2023-2025
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To Kanabi villages (Tayba, Dar al-Salam al-Hideba)
killings, burning of homes, looting of property and livestock · 2025-01
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To Detainees' families (El Gezira)
sham 'affiliation certificates' reportedly sold for at least SDG 5 million · 2025
- Based in
- Sudan
- Also named
- Eritrea (1), Ethiopia (1)
- Places
- Khartoum, Wad Madani / Gezira
Still connected to the SAF when only official records are counted.
›Possible links to investigate · 2