Horror Stories from El Fasher: “Rapid Support Forces” Spreading Death Everywhere

Armed men on camels gathered about 200 men near the Sudanese city of El Fasher at the beginning of the week, escorted them to a reservoir, and began chanting racist slurs before opening fire, according to a survivor who said he was among them.

The man, Kheir Ismail, told a well-known local journalist in a video interview for Reuters in the town of Tawila, Darfur, that one of the captors recognized him from their school days and allowed him to escape.

Unarmed and Defenseless

Ismail said, “He told them not to kill me,” even after they had killed everyone else, including some of his friends. He explained that he had been delivering food to relatives still in the city when RSF fighters took control of El Fasher last Sunday. Like the others detained, he was unarmed and defenseless.

Reuters has not independently verified his account due to the ongoing conflict, but confirmed previous information provided by the same journalist.

Ismail was among four eyewitnesses and six aid workers interviewed by Reuters. They said that those fleeing El Fasher were rounded up in nearby villages, men separated from women, and taken away. In an earlier account, another witness reported hearing gunfire soon after.

Activists and analysts have long warned of ethnically motivated revenge killings by the RSF paramilitary should it capture El Fasher — the last Sudanese army stronghold in Darfur.

Other Accounts and UN Reports

The UN Human Rights Office released additional testimonies on Friday, estimating that hundreds of civilians and unarmed people may have been executed, describing such killings as war crimes.

The RSF, whose capture of El Fasher marks a turning point in Sudan’s two-and-a-half-year civil war, has denied committing any violations, dismissing the reports as fabrications by its enemies and issuing counter-accusations.

Verified Footage

Reuters verified at least three videos posted online showing RSF fighters shooting unarmed captives, and 12 more clips showing piles of bodies apparently after shootings.

A senior RSF commander described these accounts as “media exaggerations” spread by the army and allied militias “to cover up their defeat and loss of El Fasher.” He said RSF leadership had ordered investigations into possible abuses, adding that many RSF members had been detained, and claimed the group was helping civilians leave and urging aid organizations to assist those remaining.

He also stated that captured soldiers and fighters disguised as civilians were being held for questioning, denying that executions took place.

Growing Fears of Sudan’s Division

The RSF’s full control of El Fasher deepens fears of a further fragmentation of Sudan, which had already lost territory after South Sudan’s secession in 2011 following decades of civil war.

RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemeti), in a speech on Wednesday, urged his fighters to protect civilians and promised that violators would be prosecuted. He appeared to acknowledge reports of detentions, ordering the release of detainees.

Most of the fighters resisting the RSF in El Fasher belong to the Zaghawa ethnic group, which has a long-standing enmity with the Arab-dominated RSF. This rivalry dates back to the early 2000s, when the RSF’s predecessor — the Janjaweed militias — was accused of atrocities in Darfur.

Darfur expert Alex de Waal said the RSF’s reported actions in El Fasher are “strikingly similar to what they did in Geneina and other areas,” referring to another Darfur city captured by the RSF earlier in the war and during the early 2000s.

The United States has declared that the RSF committed genocide in Geneina, and the International Criminal Court is investigating the attack. The Sudanese army and others have accused the United Arab Emirates of supporting the RSF — allegations the UAE denies.

“We Can’t Say They’re Alive”

Marie Brice, protection adviser with the NGO Nonviolent Peaceforce operating in Tawila, said most new arrivals were women, children, and elderly men. She noted that RSF-organized trucks transported some people from Garni to Tawila, while others were taken elsewhere.

The RSF released a video yesterday claiming to show the distribution of food and medical aid to displaced people in Garni. Aid workers said the RSF may also be trying to keep civilians in its territory to attract foreign assistance.

Before the assault, about 260,000 people were in El Fasher, but only 62,000 have been accounted for in other areas, with just a few thousand reaching Tawila — a neutral zone.

In another verified testimony obtained by Reuters, Tehani Hassan, a former hospital cleaner, said she fled to Tawila early Sunday after her brother-in-law and uncle were killed by stray bullets. On the way, three men in RSF uniforms detained her family, searched, beat, and humiliated them.

“They beat us severely and threw our clothes on the ground. Even I, as a woman, was searched,” she said, adding that their food and water were dumped.

Eventually, they reached Garni, where women and children were separated from men, most of whom have not been seen again, including her brother and brother-in-law.

Tehani concluded: “We can’t say they’re alive — because of how we were treated. If they don’t kill you, hunger and thirst will.”