Sudan Government Accuses RSF of Mass Killings in Mosques During Capture of El-Fasher
PORT SUDAN, Oct 29: Sudan’s army-aligned government has accused the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of committing atrocities against civilians, including attacks inside mosques during their takeover of El-Fasher, the last government-held city in Darfur.
According to officials, more than 2,000 civilians were killed when RSF fighters stormed the city on Sunday after an 18-month siege marked by starvation, bombardment, and the collapse of humanitarian access.
“Volunteers in mosques and Red Crescent workers were deliberately targeted during the militia’s invasion,” said Mona Nour Al-Daem, humanitarian aid officer for the army-aligned government, at a press conference in Port Sudan.
She added that the Adre border crossing between Sudan and Chad has been used to smuggle weapons and military supplies to the RSF.
A new analysis by Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab, released Tuesday, confirmed satellite evidence of “continuing mass killings” in El-Fasher since the RSF seized control.
The report cited executions near Saudi Hospital and a mass killing at an RSF detention site in the former Children’s Hospital in eastern El-Fasher. Researchers also identified evidence of systematic killings in rural areas surrounding the city.
The fall of El-Fasher, the last major stronghold of army chief Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan’s forces in Darfur, cements the RSF’s control over a vast region encompassing one-third of Sudan. Fighting has now shifted to the Kordofan region, where both sides continue to clash.
The RSF, led by General Mohammad Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti), has been locked in a brutal power struggle with the regular army for over two years. The paramilitary group, which traces its roots to the Janjaweed militias accused of genocide in Darfur two decades ago, now faces renewed allegations of ethnic violence and war crimes.
The United Nations warned of “ethnically motivated atrocities,” while the African Union condemned “escalating violence and credible reports of war crimes.”
“Civilians being targeted based on their ethnicity underscores the brutality of the Rapid Support Forces,” said EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas in a statement on Wednesday.
Humanitarian Crisis Deepens
The UN estimates that over 33,000 people have fled El-Fasher since Sunday, heading toward the nearby town of Tawila, which is already sheltering more than 650,000 displaced people. Around 177,000 civilians remain trapped in El-Fasher, where communications and supply routes have been cut off.
Satellite-based communication remains disrupted, except for the RSF, which maintains access through Starlink networks.
AFP photographs from Tawila show displaced families, some wounded, carrying their belongings and setting up makeshift shelters amid worsening conditions.
Sudan’s conflict has so far killed tens of thousands, displaced millions, and created the world’s largest hunger and displacement crisis, according to humanitarian agencies. Both the army and the RSF have been accused of widespread human rights abuses, including extrajudicial killings and sexual violence.
In a separate development, the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) said Wednesday that its two top officials in Sudan were declared “persona non grata” and given three days to leave the country by Sudan’s foreign ministry, a move that the agency strongly condemned.
The Quad group, comprising the United States, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia, has been holding talks aimed at brokering a ceasefire, but negotiations have stalled.
An official familiar with the talks said efforts were facing “continued obstructionism” from Sudan’s army-aligned government, dimming hopes for a near-term truce as the humanitarian crisis worsens.