A week after the RSF militia captured the Sudanese city of Al-Faschir, satellite images point to ongoing mass killings. Yale University researchers identified dozens of clusters of objects resembling human bodies. Thousands of civilians are said to have been executed, while tens of thousands remain trapped.
The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) captured Al-Faschir in the Darfur region last Sunday, after a one-and-a-half-year siege. Sudan's military leader Fattah al-Burhan confirmed the army's withdrawal on Monday. The Sudanese army accuses the RSF of executing more than 2,000 unarmed civilians. Eyewitnesses told AFP of "scenes of genocide".
New satellite images, analyzed by a Yale University research group, show 31 clusters of objects resembling human bodies between Monday and Friday – in residential areas, on university grounds, and at military sites. The scientists suspect that most of the city's approximately 260,000 inhabitants have been killed, captured, or are in hiding. There are indications that "the mass murders continue".
According to UN figures, 65,000 people fled, but tens of thousands remain trapped in the city. The aid organization Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) reports "terrible mass atrocities and murders" that are arbitrary and ethnically motivated. Fewer people than expected reached nearby Twila. MSF representative Michel Olivier Lacharite asked: "Where are all the missing who have survived months of hunger and violence in Al-Faschir?" The likely answer is "that they are being killed" when trying to flee.
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul (CDU) described the situation in Sudan as apocalyptic and "the largest humanitarian crisis in the world". The RSF will be held accountable. British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper called the reports from Darfur "truly horrific" and announced aid of five million pounds. The conflict has escalated since April 2023; tens of thousands dead, twelve million displaced.