RSF Captures El Fasher, Satellite Imagery Shows Mass Killings

Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces captured the North Darfur city of El Fasher on October 26, 2024, after a prolonged siege, leading to widespread mass killings of civilians and a subsequent campaign to conceal the evidence through burning and burying bodies, according to analysis of satellite imagery. The takeover marked the end of the Sudanese Armed Forces' last major holdout in the Darfur region and has intensified the civil war that erupted in April 2023 between the two rival factions.

The Humanitarian Research Lab at Yale School of Public Health examined imagery from a 700-square-kilometer area around El Fasher and identified 150 clusters of objects consistent with human remains between late October and early November. Dozens of these clusters aligned with reports of execution-style killings and attacks on civilians fleeing the city. By late November, nearly 60 of the clusters had vanished, and eight sites showed fresh earth disturbances inconsistent with standard civilian burial practices. The lab assessed with high confidence that the Rapid Support Forces conducted systematic mass killings, including door-to-door executions and targeting those seeking refuge in...