The Sudanese city of El Fasher, the last stronghold of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) in Darfur, fell to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on October 26, following an 18-month siege. Reports of mass atrocities immediately followed, marking a devastating and predictable new phase in Sudan's two-and-a-half-year civil war.
Reports from El Fasher detail a grim pattern of violence seen previously in Geneina (2023) and the Zamzam IDP camp (April 2025).
Hundreds of patients and staff reportedly massacred at a hospital; unarmed men of fighting age separated and summarily executed at close range. Estimates of the dead run into the thousands, though the true number is unknown due to a communications blackout. Analysis from Yale University's Humanitarian Research Lab suggests the city is undergoing a "systematic and intentional process of ethnic cleansing" targeting non-Arab communities, including the Fur, Zaghawa, and Berti groups, through forced displacement and summary executions.
Civilians attempting to flee have been stripped of belongings and held for ransom, a pattern consistent with previous RSF takeovers. RSF fighters are reportedly filming and posting videos of the violence themselves, a tactic seen as psychological warfare. Satellite imagery has corroborated claims of mass killings, with "reddish earth discoloration" and clusters of objects consistent with bodies visible near the city’s defensive berm.
Sudan's conflict has displaced 13 million people, with half of the 51 million population requiring food aid, making it the world's worst humanitarian crisis by many measures.
NGOs and observers had repeatedly warned that the RSF's capture of El Fasher would result in a bloodbath, stating it was a matter of "when, not if."
UN leaders and human rights experts have condemned the "horrifying" mass killings, accusing both the RSF and the SAF of committing war crimes. The US previously declared that the RSF had committed genocide in Darfur. The UN Security Council convened an emergency meeting to address the crisis, with officials criticizing the international community for its long-standing inaction. Diplomatic pressure is mounting on international actors, particularly the UAE, which has been accused by Sudan's representative and UN expert reports of providing arms and support to the RSF—allegations the Gulf nation denies.
Critics accuse the Sudanese armed forces of failing to uphold their responsibility to protect civilians by withdrawing from El Fasher, echoing their actions during the Geneina massacres.
The RSF's seizure of El Fasher gives the paramilitary group control over all five state capitals in Darfur, raising fears that the conflict could lead to the de facto partition of Sudan.
