Warning: This story contains graphic descriptions of executions.
Fighters from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are seen celebrating as they ride in a speeding pick-up truck past nine dead bodies, heading into the Sudanese sunset. One fighter boasts, "Look at all this work. Look at this genocide," smiling as he turns the camera on himself and his fellow fighters, showcasing their RSF badges: "They will all die like this." This chilling scene follows what humanitarian officials estimate to be a massacre of over 2,000 people in el-Fasher last month, which is now under investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for potential war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The city of el-Fasher was a strategic target for the RSF, marking the last military stronghold in Darfur. The RSF, which has been engaged in a brutal conflict with the Sudanese military since the collapse of their ruling coalition in 2023, is accused of committing numerous war crimes, many of which allegedly repeated in el-Fasher.
A City Cut Off from the World
After nearly two years of siege, the RSF fortified its hold on el-Fasher by erecting a sand berm to encircle the city, cutting off all access and preventing humanitarian aid. Satellite imagery reveals that by October, this barrier fully surrounded the city and its adjacent village. As tensions escalated, the RSF carried out an attack on a mosque on September 19, killing 78 people, and a UN report stated that 53 more died in drone strikes on a displacement camp in October.
Graphic footage shared with BBC Verify shows a man tied upside down from a tree, accused of smuggling supplies into the besieged city. Threatening words were hurled at him as the RSF tightened its stranglehold, pushing deeper into el-Fasher in close-quarters combat.
Graphic Footage Shows Unarmed People Gunned Down
By the morning of October 26, the RSF had secured control over the city’s main military base, prompting the military to withdraw. Videographic evidence shows soldiers casually touring the deserted headquarters with heavy weaponry. RSF commander Abdul Rahim Dagalo, brother to the RSF chief, soon arrived to inspect the captured site. The RSF, an offshoot of the Janjaweed militia known for previous atrocities, has faced persistent accusations of violence against Sudan’s non-Arab communities.
RSF Fighters Make Threats Ahead of the El-Fasher Massacre
Information from el-Fasher had been scarce until the RSF seized control. Subsequently, footage documenting the RSF's brutal acts began circulating online. A particularly disturbing video analyzed by BBC Verify depicted numerous bodies lying within a university building, bearing graphic witness to the mass killings that occurred during and after the assault on the city.