 "A video still of fighters from the Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the East Nile district of greater Khartoum on April 23, 2003, in the ongoing Sudanese civil war. (Photo: RSF/AFP)")
The scale of massacres carried out by the paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan’s El-Fasher city is so vast that piles of bodies and pools of blood are visible in satellite images.
On Sunday, the RSF captured El-Fasher , the final stronghold of the Sudanese military in the western Darfur region, effectively dividing the country into eastern and western halves.
For some time, there had been fears that an RSF victory in Darfur could trigger another episode of genocide . Between 2003 and 2005, the same forces killed approximately 300,000 people from the non-Arab Masalit, Fur, and Zaghawa communities in what’s known as ‘Darfur Genocide’.
Satellite imagery and analysis published by Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL) show piles of bodies and pools of blood in at least six to seven locations across El-Fasher. Independent open-source investigator and journalist Thomas van Linge, who has conducted such research for 12 years, remarked on X: “Never before have I read about there being so much blood it could be spotted by satellite.”
In its analysis, HRL stated that RSF vehicles were deployed in tactical formations consistent with house-to-house searches in Daraja Oula, a neighbourhood where civilians were confirmed to be seeking refuge.
The report noted: “Imagery analysis shows objects consistent with the size of human bodies on the ground near RSF vehicles, including at least five instances of reddish earth discolouration. At least three of the reddish instances have objects nearby measuring approximately 1.3–2.0 metres, consistent in dimension with human bodies.”
Similar body-sized objects were observed in piles along the city’s perimeter, consistent with reports that RSF fighters had been shooting people attempting to flee.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsIn its second report since El-Fasher’s capture, HRL identified similar heaps of bodies at a hospital in the city, suggesting a massacre had occurred at the site.
Testimonies and accounts from factions opposed to the RSF have also alleged that the group has been conducting mass killings in El-Fasher.
Previously, in the ongoing civil war that began in 2023 between the RSF and the Sudanese military, the RSF and its allies were responsible for the deaths of over 17,000 people in Darfur through a series of massacres. In one such incident in El-Geneina, the United Nations reported that up to 15,000 people were killed.
In addition to the massacres, the RSF and its allies have been widely accused of committing systematic sexual violence against women during the conflict, including rape, gang rape, forced marriages, and sexual slavery.
‘They shot them in front of us’: Escapee recalls massacre
Previously, in the ongoing civil war that began in 2023 between the RSF and the Sudanese military, the RSF and its allies were responsible for the deaths of over 17,000 people in Darfur through a series of massacres. In one such incident in El-Geneina, the United Nations reported that up to 15,000 people were killed.
In addition to the massacres, the RSF and its allies have been widely accused of committing systematic sexual violence against women during the conflict, including rape, gang rape, forced marriages, and sexual slavery.
‘They shot them in front of us’: Escapee recalls massacre
A woman who fled El-Fasher with her three children and grandson told Reuters that RSF fighters singled out men from among those fleeing and shot them in front of women and children.
Ikram Abdelhameed said they escaped to the town of Tawila, having all sustained injuries during the prolonged siege and bombardment of El-Fasher.
“We were running and they were chasing us, they were firing missiles ahead and behind us,” said Abdelhameed, who added that she lost track of her husband.
Abdelhameed recounted being stopped at an earthen barrier erected by the RSF around the city, where men were separated from women.
“They lined the men up, they said, ‘We want the soldiers,’” Abdelhameed said.
When none of the men identified themselves, an RSF fighter selected several individuals who were then beaten and killed, according to Abdelhameed’s account.
“They shot them in front of us, they shot them in the street,” Abdelhameed said.
The women were taken to the other side of the barrier, where they could hear further beatings and gunfire.
“The soldiers told us to go ahead and the [remaining] men will follow, but we never saw them again,” Abdelhameed said.