El Fasher massacre

El Fasher is the capital of the North Darfur state of Sudan. Due to refugees from various conflicts, notably the War in Darfur, the population of the city has varied. In 2001 the city had a population of approximately 178,500 people. By 2009 it was estimated at 500,000. Since 2023, a civil war has been raging across Sudan. It began as a result of a power struggle between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by Muhammad Dagalo, better known by the mononym Hemedti. The RSF was created by Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir in 2013, formed from existing Janjaweed militias in Darfur, a region of western Sudan. The Janjaweed were a major perpetrator of the Darfur genocide against the Fur, Masalit, and Zaghawa ethnic groups. Siege of El Fasher between 2023 and 2025. El Fasher came under siege, and the first major battle there took place in April 2023. Over the next two years, there were several clashes between armed forces. In May 2024 it was estimated the city had a population of 1.5 million, of whom at least 800,000 were internally displaced people sheltering there. Throughout the siege a large number of people fled to various refugee camps, such as the Tawila refugee camp and the Zamzam Refugee Camp, the latter of which was destroyed by the RSF, killing up to 2,000 people and forcing an exodus of 400,000 refugees to Tawila. In October 2025, El Fasher remained the last stronghold of the Sudanese Armed Forces in Darfur. According to estimates, during September and October 2025 more than 260,000 civilians were trapped in the city because of the siege. During this period, reports documented a deteriorating humanitarian crisis, with UN convoys even being struck by drone attacks. Following intensified RSF attacks on the city, the SAF retreated late on 27 October 2025, resulting in the fall of the city. On 28 October, al-Burhan confirmed that the SAF had withdrawn from the city. In the ensuing raid on the city, which the RSF described as "combing operation on a large-scale," the group claimed that it has an "utmost commitment" to protect civilians, of whom approximately 260,000 remained in the city at the time its capture. Motives Allegations of collaboration and spying RSF fighters are suspected to have justified the massacre by branding those who remained in the city after the SAF left as collaborators or spies. despite being asked if they were soldiers or civilians, residents of the city were told: Ethnic Further reports by Médecins Sans Frontières () and others stated that the killings have been reported as indiscriminate but ethnically targeted. Eyewitnesses recounted RSF soldiers asking civilians what "tribe" they were from and would execute them on the spot depending on the answer. Sources within the RSF, some of which perpetrated killings, confirmed that the massacre was systematically executed on ethnic bases. They added that the RSF made arrangements allowing those "not on the list of targeted ethnicities to flee the city." The Centre for Information Resilience (CIR) observed numerous uses of ethnic slurs, including derogatory language, including referring to civilians as "slaves," "falangay," and "donkeys." Based on evidence, experts corroborate the opinion that the killings are undoubtedly ethnically targeted, which was also recognized in the genocide against non-Arab Darfuri communities between 2003 and 2005. Financial Financial motives for the violence have also been repeatedly allegedseveral thousand people were reportedly detained by the RSF to be held for ransom, with those not able to source payment being executed. Funding and military support According to Sudan researcher Eric Reeves, United Arab Emirates (UAE) funds are used to "pay RSF officers' salaries, to bribe those who might interdict weapons shipments, even to provide an extremely elaborate social media and public relations campaign out of Dubai". Reeves also sees the UAE as a major supplier of weapons to the RSF. He stated that UAE cargo planes are used to provide weapons to the RSF via intermediary countries, citing advanced, long-range Chinese howitzers as a key weapon in the siege of El Fasher supplied to the RSF by the UAE. == Massacre ==

Following an SAF order for troops to retreat from El Fasher on 26 October, the RSF entered the city in the night between 26 and 27 October. RSF troops first took over the 6th Infantry Division base between 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. local time. Between then and 6:00 p.m., they secured other key locations around the city. After taking hold of the city, multiple sourcesincluding local organizations, international non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the United Nations, and independent monitoring groupsreported a wave of executions targeting unarmed civilians. This included house-to-house raids during which civilians were killed by RSF fighters traveling on foot, by camel and in vehicles. Confusion ensued as the fall of defenses was followed by a communications blackout. On 27 October, gunfire between the RSF and other forces were still being exchanged, particularly at the city's perimeter berm, dug by the RSF. The RSF captured El Fasher Airport that day. In the following days, the RSF had captured the entirety of El Fasher. In the chaos, some were gathered together before being executed. They have also reportedly engaged in sexual violence against women and girls. Other sources reported people being burned alive, extrajudicial executions, and planned attacks on certain ethnic groups. Witnesses recounted RSF fighters in trucks driving over and crushing civilians, tortured, and executed on the grounds that they declined forced conscription into the RSF. They have additionally been reported of executing POWs and people with disabilities. Testimony from civilians who had managed to escape the city recounted RSF soldiers threatening those captured for hours on end, Refugees who managed to escape reported being ambushed by RSF soldiers, particularly near the berm. Others unable to pay the sum promised payments, waiting for family from outside the country to provide it. Saudi maternity hospital massacre Within the first day of the massacre, the Saudi maternity hospital, the last functioning hospital in the city, saw a sharp influx of wounded. Resources ran so low, doctor testimony said mosquito nets were used in place of gauze. Some of those injured included pregnant women whose stomachs were torn open by projectiles and shrapnel. Fearing execution, doctors began to escape the hospital, being forced to leave severely injured patients. The World Health Organization later confirmed the killings, accusing the RSF of taking four doctors, a pharmacist and a nurse hostage and demanding ransoms of more than $150,000 USD for their release. Verified videos from inside the hospital showed soldiers killing any civilians still alive. On 4 November, the Yale HRL found evidence of mass graves outside of a children's hospital, consistent with the findings of previous satellite imagery. Executive Director at the Yale HRL, Nathaniel Raymond, said the RSF were "cleaning up the massacre" in a "systematic effort," and not simply as "emergency burials" BBC Verify corroborated this analysis on 11 November, believing the black smoke emerging from the pits were evidence of the RSF burning bodies before burying them. The Sudan Doctors Network said they had eyewitness accounts of the RSF desperately collecting and burning bodies, sometimes in mass graves. Approximately six weeks after the beginning of the massacre, further analyses indicated that bodies were being collected in piles throughout El Fasher's streets. Satellite evidence reinforced evidence of mass graves and incineration pits. Raymond likened the scenes to a "slaughterhouse." Starvation The RSF restricted food inflow into the city, causing starvation. This was facilitated by the RSF digging the berm, which prevented inflow of aid. On 3 November, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) reinforced confirmation that a famine was occurring in southwestern areas of Sudan. El Fasher and the southern town of Kadugli, also under siege by the RSF, were classified as Phase 5 "with reasonable evidence." Sexual violence Women and girls were subject to widespread sexual violence by RSF soldiers, Others did not ask for medical care, received pregnancy prevention medicine too late, or contracted HIV or other sexually-transmitted diseases. Some women which were separated from men were forced to walk to makeshift shelters located over 10km away from El Fasher. RSF soldiers stripped and searched women before detaining them in the shelters. Victims recounted RSF soldiers raping them numerous times per day. == Death toll ==

Estimated figures According to reports on 28 October, more than 2,000 people had been executed, many of them women, children, and the elderly. On 21 November, the governor of Darfur, Minni Minnawi, who himself is Zaghawa and lost family members during the massacre, told Middle East Eye that 27,000 Sudanese were killed in the first three days in El Fasher. This was a significant increase from the death toll of over 2,500 estimated by local officials and humanitarian organizations. Kholood Khair of the Khartoum-based Confluence Advisory think-tank estimated that 100,000 people were killed but noted that there were no official figures due to the lack of governance in the region. Verified count According to a February 2026 UN OHCHR report, there were 6,000 documented killings in the three days after the city was taken; the report said "[t]he actual scale of the death toll during the week-long offensive is undoubtedly significantly higher." == Refugee crisis ==

Before the massacre After the massacre setting up shelter in Tawila, the largest landing site of IDPs for those fleeing El Fasher. In the fallout of the El Fasher massacre's beginning, on 26 October, the SAPA recorded 3,000 IDP arrivals on 26 October, 26,030 on 27 October, and 7,455 on 28 October. Many of the children which arrived were separated or unaccompanied, believing their parents to have gone missing, been detained, or killed. the crisis which would ensue had already sparked warnings of "genocide." The IOM revised earlier figures from ECHO including new IDPs from El Fasher on 29 October, reporting that between March and September 2025, Tawila's IDP population had grown from 238,084 to 652,079, which amounted to 37% of all IDPs across North Darfur and 7% across all of Sudan. Detailed data described significant shortcomings in refugees' shelters. Throughout following weeks, refugees witnessed continued killings, blockades, By 4 November, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) suspected that "many others" were still "trapped in the city [El Fasher] without food, water and medical care." Despite providing assistance to refugees, the UNHCR and International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) stated aid across the region could not be safely dispatched to those in need, exacerbated by "aid funding sharply declining" causing "essential services [to be] stretched to [the] breaking point." Its Director of Emergency Operations, Lucia Elmi, said basic aid like bed nets, safe water, and vaccines were still needed. By 16 November, the SAPA underscores that key urgent needs were not being met. This included shelter, food, water, medical care, and protection. In addition, conflict in and around El Fasher made it difficult for aid groups to access those in need or coordinate between one another. By 22 November, UNICEF recorded the arrival of 354 children unaccompanied by any immediate family members to the refugee camps in Tawila, being able to reunite 84 children with their families thanks to coordination between numerous aid organizations in Tawila. The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) recorded upwards of 400 children unaccompanied by any immediate family members, with many being in the care of "extended relatives, neighbors and strangers who didn’t want to leave them alone. The NRC said that "many children arrived with clear signs of hunger," noting their skinny, bony, and dehydrated appearance. This was due to refugees arriving to refugee camps virtually empty-handed as RSF fighters stripped individuals of their money, phones, and clothes at checkpointscollecting ransom money through video calls. Despite nearly a month since the beginning of the massacre, Denise Brown and Thomas Fletcher of the UN, continued to express that aid organizations still did not "have enough of anything." Brown argued countries and donors' lack of funding created the "yawning shortfall," especially considering the UN, as "one of the best funded humanitarian responses in the world," was only at 28% of the funding it needed. In addition to needing psychological support for women who had suffered sexual violence, both Brown and Fletcher argued that aid organizations needed safe, non-militarized humanitarian corridors. On 10 December, Mamadou Dian Balde of UNHCR expressed concern for a significant population of displaced people, still attempting to flee the conflict in El Fasher, becoming trapped in rural areas outside the city. These refugees were stopped in areas like Korma, Jebel Wana and Garni by RSF militantsmany falling victim to their ongoing, systematic and wide-scale campaign of kidnappings, with their families being extorted for ransom. The UNHCR has called for urgent action to end violence in and around the city to facilitate free movement and so that humanitarian aid can become safely accessible for those in need. == Investigations ==

Academic research On 22 November 2025, the Yale HRL published analyses of satellite data of El Fasher. The researchers found activities consistent with the burning of human bodies at locations consistent with RSF mass killings. They found signs of five traditional burial mounds and two possible mounds during 26–28 October 2025. In seven markets that were either major El Fasher markets or near locations with large civilian populations, they found no signs of activity in November satellite images. The researchers concluded from the likely disposal of bodies by burning, the lack of traditional burials, and the lack of market activity that the 250,000 civilians who remained after 26 October had been "killed by RSF, died, been displaced, or persist[ed] in hiding". In December 2025, the BBC reported of Yale's humanitarian Research Lab (HRL) investigation, that claims the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) were trying to cover up evidence for the massacre committed. Based on analysis by the HRL of satellite images of the area, the research team says the RSF were covering up the massacre by burying and burning bodies, disposing of thousands of bodies that way. Legal International Criminal Court investigation The International Criminal Court (ICC) said in early November 2025 that it was working to "preserve and collect relevant evidence for its use in future prosecutions" as part of its Darfur investigation and that reported atrocities, "if substantiated, may constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity under the Rome Statute". Earlier, on 6 October 2025, the ICC convicted Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman (Ali Kushayb) of 27 charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in 2003 during the Darfur genocide. United Nations report The United Nations Human Rights Council adopted a resolution on 14 November 2025 asking the UN's Independent Fact-Finding Mission to the Sudan to investigate the killings in El Fasher. The Mission interviewed hundreds of witnesses, including survivors of the massacre, and analyzed videos, satellite images and statements from RSF commanders in the region. Despite several requests for assistance, the Sudanese government refused to cooperate with the inquiry. In February 2026, the Mission released its final report, concluding that the massacre showed indications of a genocide against the Fur and Zaghawa communities. The investigation found that RSF forces had committed three of the prohibited acts listed in the Genocide Convention: deliberate killings, the infliction of serious bodily or mental harm, and inflicting conditions of life meant to bring about the destruction of a protected group. == Reactions and response ==

Experts, advocacy groups, and humanitarian organizations Survivors, advocacy group representatives from NGO Protection Approaches and the IDP Humanitarian Network, and the United Nations (UN) said the attacks in El Fasher were done with the clear aim of ethnic cleansing and were part of a wider pattern of RSF violence across Darfur. Raymond compared the massacre to the first 24 hours of the Rwandan genocide. In a press release regarding the massacre, it raised concerns about the United Kingdom's complicity in arms sales to the UAE, which have been found in the hands of the RSF. Despite the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) having received material indicated that the UAE supplied UK-produced arms to the RSF, the UKbeing the "penholder" for the issue in the UNSCwent on to send similar arms to the UAE months later. Other experts and officials also criticized the National Basketball Association (NBA), Disney, and states for their business partnerships with the UAE, He noted, however, that this last resort was reached only because the UN "repeatedly ignored warning signs and omitted to take decisive and effective action not involving the use of force at a time when those options were still available." RSF leadership claimed to have undertaken an independent investigations into the attack, supposedly resulting in the arrest of several fighters. It also said that it helped civilians leave the city, After videos featuring Abu Lulu became viral, RSF media subsequently posted images of him under arrest. The arrest has been criticized by Sudanese activists as a publicity stunt. The RSF attempted to further distance themselves from him, with senior RSF sources claiming that "he does not belong to the RSF" but rather a "group fighting alongside" the RSF. They claimed that he would be "held accountable for his actions." Despite Sky News Arabia being state media, the friendly interaction and hugging between the two nevertheless outraged the Sudanese community. This comes particularly as Khalid has incited RSF fighters to commit war crimes. Weeks prior, videos of Khalid published where she encouraged fighters to rape and impregnate women to "cleanse their lineage." The UNHCR warned that growing violence in El Fasher forced thousands of people to flee, while many others are trapped in heavy fighting. and said, "El Fasher, already the scene of catastrophic levels of human suffering, has descended into an even darker hell." Sudan representative for UNICEF, Sheldon Yett, compared it to the Rwandan genocide. From approximately 10 to 16 November, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs' (OCHA) Fletcher travelled to Darfur for a week long visit to see the state of the humanitarian crisis, document it, and meet with RSF officials. Prior to arriving in a remote town in Darfur nearby El Fasher, Fletcher's UN vehicle was struck by a drone prior to meeting RSF leadership. Senior RSF officials pledged to let the UN enter El Fasher to deliver aid to its civilians and investigate atrocities. Fletcher commented that although details by the end of the meeting were not solidified, the UN's entry would "likely [be] a matter of days, not months." He underscored that the UN and relevant parties must "be careful" that the RSF did not have a say in the delivery and destination of aid. In February 2026, The UN Security Council imposed sanctions on four RSF leaders for atrocities committed in el-Fasher: deputy commander Abdul Rahim Hamdan Dagalo and Brigadier General Al-Fateh Abdullah Idris, RSF deputy commander Gedo Hamdan Ahmed and field commander Tijani Ibrahim. A spokesman for the RSF-linked Tasis coalition dismissed the measures as unfair and based on what he called biased reporting. United States The U.S. senior advisor for Arab and African affairs, Massad Boulos, expressed a deep disturbance regarding the attacks, calling them "abhorrent and unacceptable," urging the RSF to "immediately halt attacks, protect civilians, and ensure safe passage for those fleeing violence" in posts on Twitter. Lawmakers called for the RSF to be designated a terrorist organization. Senator Jeanne Shaheen said she would probably support a terrorism designation, and criticized the UAE for its support of the RSF. Following a G7 ministerial meeting, on 12 November, Marco Rubio remarked to the press that the US government was aware of who was arming the RSF. He did not mention the UAE, but called for international action to cut weapons supply to the RSF. He furthermore recognized that murder, rape, and sexual violence against civilians had occurred in El Fasher. On 19 February 2026, the US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control placed treasury sanctions against RSF commanders for their participation in the massacre. These included Abu Lulu, Gedo Hamdan Ahmed Mohamed ("Abu Shok"), and Tijani Ibrahim Moussa Mohamed ("Al Zeri Salem"), all of whom were filmed committing killings. United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has served as the RSF's principal backer, supplying money, weapons, and logistical assistance. That support enabled the RSF to continue major offensives, including the prolonged battle for El-Fasher. The events triggered a surge of criticism over the role of the UAE, but this did not affect Emirati support. The UAE condemned the massacre, announced AED 367.25 million in aid, and called for warring parties to exercise restraint and cease targeting civilians. UAE Senior Diplomatic Envoy Anwar Gargash stated that it was a collective mistake by the international community after the 2021 Sudanese coup d'état to not have placed sanctions on the RSF and SAF. Other international reactions Intergovernmental organizations (IGO) expressed deep concern about and condemnation of the violence and killings, including calls for cessation of killings, aid distribution, and accountability for those responsible. IGOs which published comments include the African Union, European Union, and World Health Organization. Representatives from countries did the same. This included Germany, Belgium, and France. International and domestic NGOs did the same. This included Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Research Center. In December 2025, the United Kingdom imposed sanctions on four senior RSF commanders, namely Abdul Rahim Dagalo, Gedo Hamdan Ahmed, Brigadier General Al-Fateh Abdullah Idris; and Field Commander Tijani Ibrahim Moussa Mohamed, over their role in the massacre. == Humanitarian and political implications ==

The events in El Fasher have increased pressure for aid and diplomacy in Sudan. Some warned of a possible partition of Sudan through the establishment of a de facto state. == See also ==