As the dust settled over the war-ravaged city of El-Fasher in Sudan’s Darfur region, harrowing stories of survival and loss have emerged, painting a grim picture of ethnic violence, mass displacement, and humanitarian catastrophe. On October 26, 2025, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF)—a paramilitary group with roots in the notorious Janjaweed militia—captured the last military stronghold in western Darfur, marking a turning point in a conflict that has already killed tens of thousands and displaced nearly 12 million people across Sudan, according to AFP and United Nations sources.
In the days and weeks that followed the RSF takeover, a torrent of reports surfaced, detailing mass killings, abductions, sexual assaults, and the targeting of civilians based on their tribe and skin color. The situation in El-Fasher, a city once considered a refuge, has now spiraled into what many rights organizations are calling a systematic genocide. The Sudan Doctors Network, a local medical group, reported on November 9 that RSF fighters had removed hundreds of bodies from the city’s streets, burying some in mass graves and burning others in what they described as a desperate attempt to conceal evidence of their crimes against civilians. "The RSF has collected hundreds of bodies from the streets and the city’s neighborhoods and buried some in mass graves and burnt others in a desperate attempt to conceal evidence of their crimes against civilians," the network stated.
Survivors’ testimonies, gathered by AFP, offer chilling accounts of the violence. Hassan Osman, a university student from El-Fasher, recounted how RSF fighters singled out people according to their ethnicity. "They judge you by your tribe, your skin color and where your family is from," he said. "If you belong to certain tribes, they don't ask any questions, you are killed on sight." Osman described the city’s streets as "filled with bodies. Some were slaughtered. Some were eaten by dogs." For Amna Haroun, a member of the Zaghawa African tribe, the horror was deeply personal. She told AFP that RSF fighters gunned down her husband and eldest son in front of her. "They killed them right in front of my eyes, saying, 'We don't want you here.'"
Ethnic tensions in Darfur are not new. The region is home to several African and non-Arab groups, including the Zaghawa, Fur, Berti, and Masalit. The RSF, which originated from the Janjaweed militia, was previously accused of genocide in Darfur between 2003 and 2008—a period during which an estimated 300,000 people were killed and 2.7 million displaced. According to the European Union Agency for Asylum, non-Arab or African groups represent between two-thirds and three-quarters of Darfur’s population. The Zaghawa, dominant in El-Fasher, initially remained neutral in the current conflict but began fighting alongside the army after the RSF carried out massacres against the Masalit tribe in El-Geneina, reportedly killing up to 15,000 people.
Osman, who is from the Berti tribe, said he was not directly targeted, as the RSF’s main enmity was with the Zaghawa. Still, he witnessed the widespread use of "racial insults, humiliation, degradation and physical and psychological violence" against those with darker skin, especially Zaghawa civilians. "If your skin is light, they might let you go. It's purely ethnic," he said. Another survivor, Hussein from the Fur tribe, recounted being detained for several days with around 200 men, beaten and insulted by RSF fighters who called them "slaves."
The violence was not limited to killings. RSF fighters reportedly demanded hundreds of dollars from civilians for safe passage, with the amount set according to tribal identity and family origin. Osman described how fighters would ask, "where your family is from and set the amount accordingly." These extortion tactics added another layer of suffering for those trying to escape the city.
Since the RSF’s capture of El-Fasher, the United Nations has reported nearly 89,000 civilians fleeing the city, with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) noting that more than 7,000 fled between November 5 and 8 alone. Most displaced residents have sought refuge in nearby towns such as Tawila, Mellit, and Saraf Omra, but the journey has been fraught with danger. The IOM warned of severe insecurity on roads, impeding civilian movement and making escape perilous.
Those who remain in El-Fasher face extreme hardship. The United Nations and rights monitors have documented widespread atrocities, including ethnically-driven killings, abductions, and sexual violence. The U.N. Human Rights Representative in Sudan, Li Fung, described El-Fasher as "a city of grief" after enduring an escalation of "brutal attacks." Fung detailed the devastating impact: "hundreds killed, including women, children, and wounded individuals seeking refuge in hospitals and schools, with entire families cut down as they tried to flee or simply vanished." The U.N. also reported that thousands, including medical workers and journalists, have been detained, with the most vulnerable—such as the elderly, disabled, and wounded—at particular risk.
The international response has been urgent but, so far, largely ineffective. The United Nations has called for an immediate ceasefire as the conflict enters its third year, while rights groups and medical organizations demand an independent international investigation into the atrocities. The Sudan Doctors Network called the burying of civilians a "full-fledged genocide" and a violation of international and religious norms. "The situation in el-Fasher has gone beyond a humanitarian catastrophe to become a systematic genocide, targeting human life and dignity amid an appalling international silence that amounts to complicity," the network’s statement read.
International condemnation has come from high-profile figures, including the head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. In a post on X, Tedros mourned the killing of Dr. Adam Ibrahim Ismail in El-Fasher and demanded an end to violence against health workers. "Sudan’s bloodshed must end ... Peace is the best medicine," he wrote.
The RSF, for its part, has denied the allegations. An officer based in El-Fasher, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, called the accusations "false." The paramilitary group issued a directive to its forces to "adhere strictly to the law, rules of conduct and military discipline during wartime," emphasizing the need to protect civilians.
Despite these denials, UN experts on November 7 reported credible evidence of RSF executions of civilians in El-Fasher, warning that these actions "may amount to crimes against humanity." The attacks, they said, mirrored earlier RSF campaigns in the Zamzam camp and El-Geneina, targeting Fur, Masalit, and Zaghawa communities "with the intent of terrorizing, displacing and destroying them in whole or in part." Sylvain Penicaud of Médecins Sans Frontières, who has interviewed fleeing civilians, told AFP that many said they were "targeted because of the color of their skin." He added, "For me, the most terrifying part was being hunted down while they were running for their lives. Being attacked simply for being black."
As the war drags on, with mediation efforts stalled and violence escalating, the people of El-Fasher and Darfur face an uncertain future. Calls for accountability and international action grow louder, but for now, the city remains a symbol of suffering—and a stark reminder of the devastating cost of unchecked conflict.
