The massacres carried out by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in El Fasher, Darfur, have become so severe that images of blood saturating the ground have been detected by satellite. The city fell to the militia group last week after an 18-month siege, and what has followed is a catastrophe, with reports of mass killings, including almost 500 people killed in one maternity hospital alone.
The speed and intensity of the killings in the immediate aftermath have been compared by war monitors to the first 24 hours of the Rwandan genocide. Survivors describe summary executions of civilians, and a commander was recorded telling a local, 'I will never have mercy on you. Our job is only killing.'
The RSF, created from Janjaweed fighters by former president Omar al-Bashir, has been waging a brutal war against the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) since April 2023. The conflict has killed an estimated 150,000 people, displaced millions, and left over 30 million needing humanitarian assistance. The RSF has focused its efforts on Darfur, ethnically targeting non-Arab populations.
The UAE has been a staunch historical ally of the RSF, funding and arming the group, including hiring its troops for the war in Yemen. This external support has enabled the RSF to amass power and resources, including 4x4 'technicals' with mounted machine guns and powerful drones, which have been used to devastating effect in El Fasher.
Warnings about the risk of mass slaughter had been issued for months, as a million displaced Darfuris concentrated in El Fasher. The current atrocities recall past episodes of Darfur’s genocide 20 years ago, but are now more concentrated and intense. The international community has been urged to act to stop the bloodshed.
