Saturday, March 29, 2025
Khartoum / Al-Fashir (Sudan):
A horrific massacre has shaken Sudan as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) allegedly executed over 2,000 unarmed civilians in Al-Fashir, the capital of North Darfur. The victims were reportedly forced to gather near a pond before being shot dead in cold blood. Eyewitness accounts and human rights reports describe this as one of the deadliest ethnic killings since the start of Sudan’s civil war in 2023.
The killings took place amid ongoing battles between the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) for control of Al-Fashir. According to eyewitnesses, the RSF fighters — some mounted on camels — raided villages, captured residents, and carried out mass executions. Many victims were targeted based on their ethnicity.
Human rights observers say the massacre appears to be part of a wider campaign of ethnic cleansing, intended to terrorize minority communities and consolidate RSF control in Darfur.
A survivor named Alkhair Ismail recounted that he and several others were delivering food to relatives when RSF fighters surrounded them. “They took us near a pond and opened fire,” he said. “They hurled racial insults before shooting everyone. One fighter recognized me and stopped them from killing me.”
Other witnesses confirmed similar accounts, stating that RSF soldiers intercepted people fleeing Al-Fashir, separated men and women, and moments later, gunfire echoed across the area.
The United Nations and several international human rights groups have condemned the killings, calling them a war crime under international law. The UN warned earlier that if RSF captured Al-Fashir, mass atrocities could occur — a grim prediction that now appears to have come true.
Humanitarian organizations have expressed concern over the worsening refugee crisis, as thousands continue to flee Darfur amid food shortages, airstrikes, and escalating violence.
In response to global outrage, RSF leadership has denied the allegations, claiming that media reports were exaggerated and accusing the Sudanese Armed Forces of spreading false propaganda.
An RSF spokesperson stated that the organization had “ordered an internal investigation” but insisted that “no civilians were executed” and that soldiers only “questioned locals for security reasons.”
However, satellite images and field reports from independent monitors have contradicted the RSF’s claims, showing mass graves and burned villages near Al-Fashir.
Sudan’s brutal civil war began in April 2023 following a power struggle between General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), and General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti), commander of the RSF.
Both men were allies in the 2021 military coup but later clashed over plans to integrate the RSF into the national army and restore civilian governance.
The conflict has since devastated the nation, leaving over 12,000 people dead, millions displaced, and much of Khartoum and Darfur in ruins. The latest massacre in Al-Fashir signals a dangerous escalation — one that could push Sudan further toward total collapse and regional instability.
