Sudan's RSF Under Investigation for Alleged Mass Killings in El-Fasher

Sat Dec 20 2025 13:52:26 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

Research from Yale University indicates that Sudan's Rapid Support Forces may be engaged in systematic efforts to conceal mass killings in El-Fasher, raising international concerns.

A Yale University report suggests that Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are attempting to hide mass killings in El-Fasher by disposing of bodies. This comes after RSF's takeover of the city in October led to international condemnation. Satellite images indicate ongoing body disposal operations, with the group previously admitting to some violations but denying mass killings motivated by ethnicity. As the conflict continues, the UN calls the situation in Sudan a humanitarian disaster, with many civilians still trapped.

Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has been trying to cover up mass killings in the city of el-Fasher by burying and burning bodies, a research team from Yale University says.

The RSF had drawn international condemnation amid reports of executions and crimes against humanity when its fighters captured the city in October.

Now, analysis of satellite images by Yale's Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL) shows the RSF likely disposed of tens of thousands of bodies after seizing el-Fasher.

The RSF has not responded to the report, but its leader previously admitted his fighters had committed some violations in the city.

The HRL's report said the RSF 'engaged in a systematic multi-week campaign to destroy evidence of its widespread mass killings' and 'this pattern of body disposal and destruction is ongoing.'

The paramilitary group has been fighting Sudan's regular army since April 2023, when a power struggle between the two parties erupted into a brutal civil war.

The United Nations (UN) has described the conflict as the world's worst humanitarian disaster.

After 18 months of besieging el-Fasher, the RSF captured the city - a major victory pushing the army out of its last foothold in the vast Darfur region.

The HRL has been monitoring the situation in the city for months, and its latest report is part of efforts to understand the extent of the violence suffered by the city's residents.

Fresh analysis of satellite imagery found clusters in multiple locations changing in size in the weeks after el-Fasher fell, indicating continued efforts by the RSF to clean up evidence of massacres.

The images also show more than 80 clusters located outside of the city, which demonstrates that the RSF was killing people as they tried to flee.

Following an international backlash, RSF leader Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo declared an investigation into what he called violations committed by his soldiers during the capture of el-Fasher.

The RSF has used the seizure of el-Fasher to consolidate its power in western Sudan, establishing a parallel government in Darfur's city of Nyala. Meanwhile, the Sudanese military continues to control most regions of the country, with conflicts persisting between the two factions.

More than 13 million people have been displaced since the onset of the war in April 2023.