Al-Fashir massacre: Difference between revisions

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=== Rapid Support Forces ===

=== Rapid Support Forces ===

The RSF have denied massacres and said videos are propaganda and fake. RSF General [[Hemedti|Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo]] has admitted “abuses” committed by the RSF and says investigations are continuing.<ref name=”:8″ /> He apologised for potential civilian deaths and said that the RSF will protect civilians. He then said that Sudan would be united “through peace or war.”<ref name=”:10″>{{Cite news |title=Paramilitary chief vows united Sudan as his forces are accused of mass killings |url=https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/sudan-govt-accuses-rsf-of-attacking-mosques-in-elfasher-takeover/news-story/23a8ed2096cb4b26ede4bf820a221f14?amp |work=Herald Sun}}</ref> RSF Brigadier General Al-Fateh Abdullah Idris, [[Nom de guerre|commonly known]] as Abu Lulu, however, boasted in videos on 27 October of having killed over 2,000 people. He was seen executing a civilian in another video.<ref name=”:12″ />

The RSF have denied massacres and said videos are propaganda and fake. RSF General [[Hemedti|Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo]] has admitted “abuses” committed by the RSF and says investigations are continuing.<ref name=”:8″ /> He apologised for potential civilian deaths and said that the RSF will protect civilians. He then said that Sudan would be united “through peace or war.”<ref name=”:10″>{{Cite news |title=Paramilitary chief vows united Sudan as his forces are accused of mass killings |url=https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/sudan-govt-accuses-rsf-of-attacking-mosques-in-elfasher-takeover/news-story/23a8ed2096cb4b26ede4bf820a221f14?amp> RSF Brigadier General Al-Fateh Abdullah Idris, [[Nom de guerre|commonly known]] as Abu Lulu, however, boasted in videos on 27 October of having killed over 2,000 people. He was seen executing a civilian in another video.<ref name=”:12″ />

=== United Nations ===

=== United Nations ===

Sudanese Civil War massacre of civilians

The Al-Fashir massacre (Arabic: مجزرة الفاشر, romanized: Majzarat al-Fāshir) has occurred since 26 October 2025, during which an estimated 2,500 or more civilians have been executed or murdered in the city of Al-Fashir, Sudan. The executions have been mainly performed by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), after they captured the city, which was the last stronghold of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) in Darfur.

A communications blackout in the city is limiting information.^[1] Yale University, School of Public Health‘s Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL) have estimated that the figures of those killed are “undercounted,”^[2] with Sky News claiming that analysts estimate “tens of thousands” of individuals killed.^[3]

Background

Since 2023, a civil war has been raging across Sudan.^[4] Al-Fashir 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.^[5] In October 2025, Al-Fashir remained the last stronghold of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) in Darfur. According to estimates, during September and October 2025 more than 260,000 civilians were trapped in the city because of the siege.^[6] During this period, reports documented a deteriorating humanitarian crisis.^[7]

Following intensified RSF attacks on the city, the SAF retreated, resulting in the city’s fall on 27 October 2025. On 28 October, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan confirmed that the army had withdrawn from the city.^[8][9][10] 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.^[11][12]

Massacre

Once the RSF took hold of the city, multiple sources, including local organizations, international NGOs, the United Nations, and independent monitoring groups, have reported a wave of executions targeting unarmed civilians.^[13] According to reports, more than 2,000 people have been executed, many of them women, children, and the elderly.^[14] Civilians were killed in and around shelters for displaced families, hospitals, and homes. Witnesses and medical staff reported that drones, artillery, guns and whips were used in attacks that deliberately targeted civilians.^[15] House to house raids followed by executions have occurred, committed by RSF fighters on foot, camels, or vehicles.^[16][15] They have also engaged in sexual violence against women and girls.^[8][17] Fleeing people were reportedly kidnapped with ransoms demanded for release.^[18]

Reports from Al-Fashir describe people being burned alive, extrajudicial executions, and planned attacks on certain ethnic groups.^[17][19] Several centers for displaced people, including the Dar al-Arqam displacement center at Omdurman Islamic University, were attacked. Reports further claim that in a single incident, more than 60 people were killed, including 22 women and 17 children.^[14] Many could not escape as the city was surrounded, and aid groups said there were no safe routes for civilians. Satellite images and open source evidence support reports of mass graves and widespread destruction, showing human sized “objects” and what are believed to be body bags and pools of blood.^[8][14][20] The SAF have accused the RSF of targetting mosques and aid workers.^[21]

Reuters reports men were separated from women, tortured, and executed on the condition that they declined forced conscription into the RSF. They have additionally reported the executions of POWs.^[11][12] Images and videos posted to social media by RSF soldiers shows them posing with the dead bodies of civilians, often doing a “V for Victory” sign.^[22]

Médecins Sans Frontières have reported that of arrivals to the Tawila refugee camp during the week prior to the fall of city, 5% of children were acutely malnourished, and 26% were severely malnourished.^[23] On the 26th and 27th of October its estimated 25,000 people fled Al-Fashir, but only 2,000 arrived at Tawila.^[23]

Al-Saud maternity hospital massacre

At least 460 to 500 doctors, patients and companions of the patients were reportedly killed at al-Saud maternity hospital.^[24][25][26] The World Heath Organisation has confirmed the killings, accusing the RSF of taking four doctors, a pharmacist and a nurse hostage and demanding ransoms of more than $150,000 for their release.^[1]

Aftermath, response, and reactions

Witnesses and advocacy groups said the attacks in Al-Fashir were done with the clear aim of ethnic cleansing and were part of a wider pattern of RSF violence across Darfur.^{[citation needed]} Executive Director at the HRL, Nathaniel Raymond, compared the massacre to the first 24 hours of the Rwandan genocide.^[19]

The capture of Al-Fashir gave RSF control over all five capitals in Darfur. Some warned of a possible partition of Sudan through the establishment of a de facto state.^[19][27]

Rapid Support Forces

The RSF have denied massacres and said videos are propaganda and fake. RSF General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo has admitted “abuses” committed by the RSF and says investigations are continuing.^[16] He apologised for potential civilian deaths and said that the RSF will protect civilians. He then said that Sudan would be united “through peace or war.”Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page). The UN asked for a safe route so civilians can escape the city. The UN Human Rights Office reported shocking cases of people being killed without trial and ethnic motivations behind the killings.^[28]

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees warned that growing violence in Al-Fashir forced thousands of people to run away, while many others are trapped in heavy fighting.^[29]

United States

The SAF and top officials from Sudan and RSF representatives met with U.S. diplomats in Washington on 30 October. A State Department official revealed that the U.S. attempted to persuade the SAF and RSF to agree to a three-month ceasefire. Both sides, however, expressed that they felt they could win.^[12]

The U.S. senior advisor for Arab and African affairs, Massad Boulos, expressed a deep disturbance regarding the attacks, calling it “abhorrent and unacceptable,” urging the RSF to “immediately halt attacks, protect civilians, and ensure safe passage for those fleeing violence” in posts on Twitter.^[30][31] Lawmakers called for the RSF to be designated a terrorist organisation. Senator Jeanne Shaheen said she would probably support a terrorism designation, and criticised the United Arab Emirates for its support of the RSF.^[32]

Other international reactions

• The African Union expressed deep concern about mass killings and human rights abuses following the RSF’s takeover.^[33]
• The European Union expressed deep concern regarding the violence and asked for help to reach people in need and for those responsible to be held accountable.^[34]
• Germany strongly condemned the killings, rapes, and torture, and called for the violence to stop right away.^[29]
• Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot condemned the attack, called the situation terrible, and demanded that civilians be protected and aid workers be allowed to help.^[29]

Humanitarian and political implications

The events in Al Fashir have increased pressure for aid and diplomacy in Sudan.^[13][17] International groups had warned of a major disaster, mass killings, rape, hunger, and displacement affecting more than 14 million people in Darfur by late 2025.^[13] The massacre has become a symbol of the wider violence after peace efforts collapsed and may make a negotiated deal unlikely in the near future.^[19][13]

See also

References