RSF accused of massacring thousands of civilians in Sudan's El-Fasher

Sudanese paramilitaries from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been accused of massacring thousands of civilians in El-Fasher after capturing the western city from government forces on Sunday

The RSF "committed heinous crimes against innocent civilians in the city of El-Fasher, where more than 2,000 unarmed civilians were executed and killed on 26 and 27 October, most of them women, children and the elderly," the Darfur Joint Protection Force said in a statement.

The Joint Protection Force is allied to the Sudanese army and was in control of El-Fasher before it fell to the RSF. Fighting between the RSF and the Sudanese army began in April 2023.

Researchers at Yale University's Humanitarian Research Lab also said they had uncovered evidence of mass killing in the city.

Satellite imagery appeared to show piles of bodies close to RSF vehicles and the city's defences, they said.

The army and its allies confirmed that they had been forced to withdraw due to the advance of RSF fighters, who have been besieging the city for months.

The RSF is allegedly backed by money, weapons and mercenaries facilitated by the United Arab Emirates.

The UN said it had received reports that the RSF had carried out summary executions of civilians, and warned of further "large-scale, ethnically-motivated violations and atrocities".

The chairman of the African Union on Tuesday condemned the "alleged war crimes and ethnically targeted killings of civilians".

Hundreds of thousands of people have been trapped since the RSF encircled the city almost 18 months ago.

Around 260,000 people – half of them children – remain in the city without food or humanitarian aid, according to the UN.

The UN, aid agencies and the Sudanese government have accused the RSF of deliberately starving the city's population.

In a televised speech on Monday, Sudan's army chief and de facto ruler Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said troops had been withdrawn from the city and vowed revenge "until this land is purified" and the "hired killers" are eliminated.

The RSF's capture of El-Fasher, the state capital of North Darfur, hands it control over all major cities in the sprawling western region.