Sudan Doctors Network has described the situation in el-Fasher as “a true genocide.”

According to the medical group, which tracks the country’s civil war, scores of people have been killed in attacks by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) during their recent capture of the city of el-Fasher in Sudan’s western Darfur region.

The Sudan Doctors Network disclosed that the RSF, which has been fighting Sudan’s military for control of the country, killed at least 1,500 people over the past three days as civilians tried to flee the besieged city.

“The massacres the world is witnessing today are an extension of what occurred in el-Fasher more than a year and a half ago, when over 14,000 civilians were killed through bombing, starvation, and extrajudicial executions.”
Sudan Doctors Network

It said that the attacks are being carried out as part of a “deliberate and systematic campaign of killing and extermination.”

The statement comes as new evidence of mass killings in the strategic area has emerged from Yale’s Humanitarian Research Lab. They said that satellite imagery of el-Fasher, taken after the RSF moved in, shows clusters of objects consistent with the size of human bodies, as well as large areas of red discolouration on the ground.

The RSF has been locked in a bloody civil war with Sudan’s army since 2023, in a conflict that has killed tens of thousands and displaced more than 12 million people.The paramilitary force overran el-Fasher, the army’s last stronghold in Darfur, on Sunday after 17 months of siege.

The Sudanese government said today that at least 2,000 people have been killed in the city since then, while aid agencies say they have received credible reports of atrocities, including summary executions, attacks on civilians along escape routes and house-to-house raids.

Sexual violence, particularly against women and girls, was also reported in the city.

Videos on social media taken by the RSF showed fighters “shooting at civilians attempting to flee.” The latest and most disturbing video to surface was videos of the fighters roaming through, what has been identified as al-Saudi Hospital in the city of el-Fasher, executing patients.

Survivors who fled the city said at least 500 people have been seeking refuge in the hospital. Among those killed were health workers.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World Health Organisation (WHO), said that more than 460 people were killed at the Saudi Maternity Hospital.

He said the WHO was “appalled and deeply shocked” by the reports. The Sudan Doctors Network said that RSF fighters on Tuesday “cold-bloodedly killed everyone they found inside the Saudi Hospital, including patients, their companions, and anyone else present in the wards.”

RSF In Near Full Control After El-Fasher’s Fall

El-Fasher’s fall puts the RSF in near full control of the vast region of Darfur and has raised concerns of another split of Sudan, more than a decade after South Sudan’s creation.

Sudan’s army-aligned government also accused the RSF of attacking civilians in mosques during their recent takeover of the city.

Mona Nour Al-Daem, humanitarian aid officer for the Sudanese government, said, “More than 2,000 civilians were killed during the militia’s invasion of el-Fasher, targeting volunteers in mosques and the Red Crescent.”

Speaking to a news agency, Ahmed Ibrahim, a former staffer of the transitional government under Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, said that the RSF was meant to be integrated into the national army, but due to “geopolitical” reasons and “internal politics”, this did not happen.

“Many bets were on the RSF militia to takeover the resources of the country and replace the national army and take over the whole country.”
Ahmed Ibrahim

He said that the timeline of this integration, and the RSF’s new leadership, were the main “points of contention that led to this war.”

He emphasized that this is not just a power struggle between two Generals, “this is part of a geopolitical attempt to restructure the region.”