CAIRO — Paramilitary fighters in vehicles, on camels and on foot rampaged through the Sudanese military’s last stronghold in Darfur on Tuesday, killing and detaining hundreds of people in the latest atrocity of a war that has raged in Sudan for over 31 months.
The Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, overran the city of el-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, in what the United Nations chief called a “terrible escalation” in the conflict.
Medical groups reported that RSF fighters have killed dozens of civilians and detained hundreds of others since taking over the military’s base in the city on Sunday.
The army said it withdrew from the city, hoping to save civilians from further violence after more than a year of RSF attacks on the city. Military chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan said the army retreated because of “the systemic destruction, and the systemic killing of civilians” by the RSF.
In a surprise statement Tuesday night, the Sudanese government said it had ordered the expulsion of the country director and the director of operations of the World Food Program and declared them “persona non grata” without giving a reason. The two have 72 hours to leave the country. It added that “this decision does not affect the ongoing cooperation with the World Food Programme in Sudan.”
The war started in April 2023 when simmering tensions between the Sudanese military and the RSF exploded into open fighting in the capital, Khartoum, and elsewhere in the country.
The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said it had 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, it said.
Thousands of people have tried to leave el-Fasher as the violence escalated. The U.N. migration agency estimates that over 26,000 people managed to flee the city. The International Committee of the Red Cross said in a statement that more than 4,200 people have reached camps in the town of Tawila, in North Darfur, in the last two days.
Graphic footage flooded social media showing fighters in RSF uniforms shooting and beating people as they attempted to flee. Other footage showed troops on vehicles and camels roaming city streets.
Many were shown detained, with one video showing a group of young people wearing Sudanese Red Crescent vests being held and beaten by an armed fighter.
“The reports emerging from el-Fasher are horrifying,” said Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty International’s regional director for East and Southern Africa. He urged the RSF to stop its attacks on civilians and allow humanitarian aid into the city.
“The people of el-Fasher have already endured the RSF’s brutal 18-month-long siege of the city,” he said. “All those responsible for the ongoing atrocities must be held individually accountable.”
The Sudan Doctors Network, a medical group tracking the war, said RSF fighters had abducted five medical workers from the city, including four doctors, a pharmacist and a nurse.
The Yale School of Public Health’s Humanitarian Research Lab published a report Tuesday relying on satellite imagery that said RSF forces were “conducting alleged mass killings” after seizing el-Fasher.
Using imagery from Airbus taken Monday, the lab pointed out a series of scenes in el-Fasher’s Daraja Oula neighborhood. They included what appeared to be gun-mounted trucks, known as “technicals,” in the streets in formations that appeared like roadblocks.
“Imagery analysis shows objects consistent with the size of human bodies on the ground near RSF vehicles, including at least five instances of reddish earth discoloration,” the report said.
The Associated Press separately accessed and analyzed the satellite images from Airbus, matching those details highlighted by the Humanitarian Research Lab.
While the AP was not able to conclusively determine what the objects on the ground or the red splotches seen in the dirt were, it raises new concerns about the RSF’s conduct after taking el-Fasher.
The U.N.’s human rights office said it feared the RSF was “carrying out atrocities, including summary executions” in el-Fasher. It cited social media footage circulating online that shows fighters purportedly gunning down unarmed men.
The RSF has not addressed allegations against it. The paramilitary force grew out of the notorious Janjaweed Arab militias that carried out genocide during the Darfur conflict in the 2000s. The Biden administration in one of its last acts declared that the RSF and its allies were committing genocide in the current war.
The fall of el-Fasher to the RSF could usher in another split of Sudan, more than a decade after South Sudan’s creation after years of fighting between the central government and rebels.
In comments in Malaysia on Monday, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said the fall of el-Fasher marked a “terrible escalation” in the war and called for ceasing foreign military support to the warring parties.
“The problem is not only the fighting between the army and the Rapid Support Forces, but also the growing external interference that undermines prospects for a ceasefire and a political solution,” he was quoted as saying by a U.N. spokesman.
The war has killed over 40,000 people, according to the U.N., but the actual toll is likely much higher. The war has also created the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with part of the country, including the el-Fasher area, plunged into famine. Over 14 million people have fled their homes.
