Darfur’s New Massacre: RSF Executes Hundreds After Victory

NEWS BRIEF

Witnesses and aid groups describe summary executions and mass detentions of men by Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces following their capture of al-Fashir, the last army stronghold in Darfur. One survivor recounted how fighters rounded up hundreds of men near a reservoir, shouting racial slurs before opening fire, in what UN officials say may constitute war crimes.

WHAT HAPPENED

• A survivor described how RSF fighters on camels gathered about 200 men near al-Fashir, shouted ethnic slurs, and executed them at a reservoir.
• Multiple witnesses and aid workers reported men being separated from women during flight from the city, with gunshots heard afterward.
• The UN human rights office estimates hundreds of civilians and unarmed fighters may have been executed in what would be war crimes.
• Medical charity MSF documented accounts of 500 civilians and soldiers attempting to flee, with most killed or captured by RSF forces.

WHY IT MATTERS

• The fall of al-Fashir marks a strategic milestone in Sudan’s civil war, cementing RSF control over Darfur and deepening the country’s fragmentation.
• The reported mass killings echo atrocities committed during the early 2000s Darfur conflict, raising concerns about renewed genocide.
• RSF denials contrast with verified videos showing fighters shooting unarmed captives and multiple eyewitness accounts of executions.
• The violence threatens to exacerbate ethnic tensions between Zaghawa communities and the largely Arab RSF fighters.

IMPLICATIONS

• Humanitarian Crisis: Only 62,000 of 260,000 residents have been accounted for since the city’s capture, raising concerns about missing civilians.
• International Response: The atrocities may increase pressure for ICC investigations and stronger international intervention in Sudan’s conflict.
• Regional Stability: The RSF’s consolidation of power in Darfur could prolong the civil war and destabilize neighboring countries.
• Aid Access: Reports of RSF controlling population movements may complicate humanitarian assistance to affected communities.

This briefing is based on information from Reuters.